By Scott Gerlt  • ASA Economist 

Agricultural producers provide food, feed, fuel and fiber for the world. The United States is fortunate to have supply chains that reliably get products from the farm, process them and deliver the products to grocery stores for consumers. However, this means that most Americans don’t have the opportunity to interact with the providers of these basic goods. This article uses the USDA’s 2017 Census of Agriculture to shed light on the demographics of the 3,447,028 men and women in the U.S. who produce our agricultural products. The USDA Census of Agriculture captures a wide range of information from all farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and is distinct from the U.S. Census.

Table 1 presents the type of farm according to the North American Industry Classification System and the number of producers in each classification according to race. The 2017 Census of Agriculture only asks for demographic information for up to four producers, so producers beyond that would be in the unreported category. Also worth noting is that the Census considers Hispanic a separate category from race. Most U.S. producers are white (94%). These producers tend to be cattle, oilseed and grain, and “other crop” farmers. Other crop farming includes tobacco, cotton and sugarcane, among other types. American Indian or Alaska Native producers tend to be overwhelmingly beef, sheep or goat farmers and ranchers. Producers who identify their race as Asian or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander tend to be more concentrated in specialty crops, while Black or African Americans are predominately in beef production. The Multi-Race category includes producers who identify with more than one race. These operators largely raise beef cattle, aquaculture and other animals, and farm “other” crops.

Table 1: Number of operators by farm type and race

Table 2 shows how the number of operators by race has changed through the last three Censuses. The 2017 Census dropped the requirement that operators had to be involved in day-to-day decisions. This helps explain the uptick in total operators for that year. The last Census also asks about demographics for up to four operators, as opposed to three in 2012 and 2007, which brought some of producers in the unreported category into specific race categories. As a result of these changes, the 2007 and 2012 Censuses are more comparable with each other than either is with the 2017 results.

Table 2: Number of operators by Census and race

The dispersion of operators within the U.S. varies by race. American Indian or Alaska Native producers are largely concentrated in the Southwest United States, while Asian producers are most heavily concentrated in California and Hawaii where many of the specialty crops are produced. Black and African farmers are found in the South, particularly Texas. Multi-Race producers are scattered fairly broadly but have the highest numbers in Oklahoma and Texas. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander producers are found primarily in Hawaii and California. White producers tend to be widely dispersed but are most concentrated in Texas. After that, the next-largest areas of concentration are California and the Midwest. Overall, Texas is the state with the most producers (412,575), of which more than half are involved in beef cattle production. In fact, it has more than twice as many producers as the next largest state, Missouri (162,345). For each category of race, Texas is in the top four number of states with the most producers.

Operator ages and gender composition tend not to vary greatly across races. American Indian or Alaska Native and Asian tend to have the highest proportion of women at 46% and 44%, respectively. Black or African American has the lowest at 29%. Operators identifying as Multi-Race have the lowest average age at 55.1, followed by Asian at 55.6. Black or African American has the highest average age at 61.3.

Table 3: Operator gender and age by race

The proportion of females and males by type of agricultural operation is fairly consistent. A higher percent of males is involved in oilseed and grain farming than females (18% versus 11%), while the opposite is true for aquaculture and other animal production. Hog and pig farmers are the youngest, collectively, as they are the only farm type to have an average age under 50. Livestock farmers tend to be younger than average. The oldest groups are fruit and tree nut farmers and other crop farmers (as noted above, this “other category” includes tobacco, cotton, sugarcane and other crops).

Table 4: Type of operation by gender and age

While agricultural producers have many different characteristics, farmers and ranchers mostly identify as white, are generally male and have an average of 57.5. Many are involved in beef production or grain and oilseed farming. Geographic dispersion and type of farming varies by race. While the data provides an interesting snapshot of the operators, producing food, feed, fuel and fiber for the world for the world connects them all.