Farming Operations and Households in Farming Areas: A Closer Look

Although the number of counties economically dependent on farming has declined over the years, agriculture has not disappeared from most counties that are no longer farming- dependent. Farming is still significant in many of those counties. This report presents three groups of counties based on each county's share of local earnings from farming and the size of its local farm sector. Understanding the similarities and differences among the three county groups should be useful when devising measures to help farm operator households and their communities.