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Farm Household
Well-Being: Comparing Consumption- and Income-Based Measures—Household
economic well-being can be gauged by the financial resources
(income/ wealth) available to the household or by the
standard of living enjoyed by household members (consumption).
ERS has long published estimates of farm household income
and wealth. This report presents estimates of
consumption-based measures of well-being for farm households.
The consumption measure provides a different perspective
from income or
wealth on farm households’ well-being relative to
that of all U.S. households. (2/2010)
Agricultural
Income and Finance Situation and Outlook—This
annual periodical provides historical estimates and forecasts
of financial information that gauge the financial health
of the Nation's farmers and ranchers. Financial information
is provided for the whole farm sector (including contractors
and landlords), for all farms, for farm businesses with
a principal operator whose major occupation is farming,
and for the households of principal farm operators. Common
topics include trends in income, value added, receipts,
government payments, expenses, debt, assets, and financial
performance. Because of the great diversity across the
farm sector many indicators are presented by size of farm
and other relevant classification schemes. (12/09)
Health Status and Health
Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations—Rural
residents have higher rates of age-adjusted mortality,
disability, and chronic disease than their urban counterparts,
though mortality and disability rates vary more by region
than by metro status. Contributing negatively to the health
status of rural residents are their lower socioeconomic
status, higher incidence of both smoking and obesity,
and lower levels of physical activity. Contributing negatively
to the health status of farmers are the high risks from
workplace hazards, which also affect other members of
farm families who live on the premises and often share
in the work; contributing positively are farmers’
higher socioeconomic status, lower incidence of smoking,
and more active lifestyle. Both farm and rural populations
experience lower access to health care along the dimensions
of affordability, proximity, and quality, compared with
their nonfarm and urban counterparts. (8/09)
Federal
Estate Taxes Affecting Fewer Farmers but the Future is
Uncertain—The Federal estate tax affects relatively
few estates and accounts for only a small share of total
Federal tax receipts. Though special provisions have been
enacted to limit the impact of the tax on farmers and
small business owners, these groups are still more likely
than the general public to owe Federal estate taxes. A
larger share of farm estates could be subject to estate
taxes if legislation enacted in 2001 is allowed to expire
at the end of 2010. Amber Waves (6/09)
Beginning Farmers and
Ranchers—USDA defines beginning farmers and
ranchers as those who have operated a farm or ranch for
10 years or less either as a sole operator or with others
who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less.
Beginning farmers tend to be younger than established
farmers and to operate smaller farms or ranches, some
of which may provide no annual production. Beginning farmers
often face obstacles getting started, including high startup
costs and limited availability of land. USDA—through
the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation
Service—provides loans and conservation assistance
to beginning farmers and ranchers. This report draws on
data from annual surveys and the Census of Agriculture
to provide policymakers with a better understanding of
beginning farmers and ranchers, including how they contribute
to U.S. agricultural production. (5/09)
Federal Tax Policies and
Farm Households—Significant changes in Federal
individual income and estate tax policies have occurred
over the last 10 years. Analysis suggests that changes
in Federal tax provisions affecting both individual and
business income taxes have reduced average tax rates for
all farm households, resulting in the lowest tax burden
on farm income and investment in a decade. Similarly,
an analysis of the changes to Federal estate tax policies
suggests that increases in the value of property that
can be transferred to the next generation free of the
estate tax, combined with special provisions for farmers
and other small businesses, have greatly reduced the number
of farm estates subject to the tax and the amount owed.
While nearly 10 percent of commercial farm estates could
owe tax in 2009, only 1 to 2 percent of all farm estates
are estimated to be subject to the Federal estate tax
this year. (4/09)
New
Payment Limits, Lower Income Cap Unlikely To Have Significant
Impact—The 2008 Farm Act retains the limits
on direct and countercyclical payments established under
previous legislation but removes limits on marketing loan
benefits. It also creates a system that matches payments
to individuals and eliminates a farmer’s ability
to collect additional payments by operating multiple farms
(known as the three-entity rule). The Act also replaces
the overall income cap for payment eligibility with separate
caps for the farm and nonfarm components of AGI. While
somewhat tighter, the new caps are unlikely to have a
significant impact on eligibility for, or the distribution
of, farm program payments. Amber Waves (11/08).
Profile of Hired Farmworkers,
A 2008 Update—Hired farmworkers make up a third
of the total agricultural labor force and are critical
to U.S. agricultural production, particularly in labor-intensive
sectors such as fruits and vegetables. The hired farmworker
labor market is unique because it includes a large population
of relatively disadvantaged and often unauthorized workers,
a portion of whom migrate to, and within, the United States.
Recent economic and demographic trends, such as changing
agricultural production methods that permit year-round
employment, expanding immigrant populations in nonmetropolitan
counties, and growing concerns over U.S. immigration policies,
have elicited increased interest in hired farmworkers.
This 2008 profile serves as an update to the 2000 Economic
Research Service analysis of the 1998 Current Population
Survey using current data with expanded sections on legal
status, poverty, housing, and use of social services.
(7/08)
A
Look at the Economic Well-being of Farm Operator Households—Average
farm household income has consistently exceeded that of
all U.S. households for more than a decade. ERS researchers
developed a comprehensive measure of economic well-being
that combines pre-tax income with an estimate of the potential
income stream provided by a farm household’s marketable
wealth. ERS examined the characteristics of lower income
and lower wealth farm households to determine what differentiates
them from their “higher income and higher wealth”
counterparts. Education was among the factors found to
affect the economic well-being of farm households. Amber
Waves (6/08).
Effects of Reducing the
Income Cap on Eligibility for Farm Program Payments—The
current $2.5-million income cap on eligibility for farm
program payments affects only a small number of farm program
payment recipients each year. A reduction in the cap to
$200,000 would affect a larger number of farm households
but still only a small share of recipients. Based on IRS
tax data and ARMS survey data about 1.5 percent of all
farm operator households could be subject to this proposed
cap. $807 million in payments were received in 2004 by
farm operators organized as proprietors, partnerships,
and corporations with incomes exceeding $200,000. The
study also found that farm income averaged $271,749 and
net worth averaged over $1.86 million for farm households
with AGI estimated to be over $200,000. (9/07)
Changing
Federal Tax Policies Affect Farm Households Differently—Recent
Federal tax legislation has reduced income tax rates for
both individuals and businesses and cut the number of
farm estates that owe Federal estate taxes. Commercial
farmers are the primary beneficiaries of the reduced business
and estate taxes. (11/05)
How
Do U.S. Farmers Plan for Retirement?—Retirement
and succession planning are of considerable importance
to farm households, and there are good reasons to believe
that farm households are affected by savings and retirement
policies in ways that are different from the rest of the
Nation's households. For example, compared with the U.S.
labor force, farm operators are considerably older. In
addition to working past traditional retirement age, farm
operator households tend to have more varied income sources
and forms of wealth, than the general population. While
fewer farm operators are covered by employer-sponsored
pensions than are nonfarmers, most farm operators save
from current income on a regular basis and have accumulated
diversified financial portfolios, including individual
retirement savings. Amber Waves (4/05).
Farm
Payments: Decoupled Payments Increase Households' Well-Being,
Not Production—Traditionally, subsidies in the
U.S. and elsewhere have linked payments to current prices
and production. Such subsidies distort, or alter, the
signals sent by market prices. In 1996, the U.S. revamped
its farm support and introduced a farm payment that breaks
the links between the amounts paid to farmers, their level
of production, and market prices. There is little evidence
that these decoupled payments distort production. Their
primary consequence has been an improvement in the overall
well-being of recipient households that own base acres,
where well-being is defined broadly to encompass income,
wealth, and consumption, as well as how people choose
to spend their time. Amber Waves (2/03).
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