Limited-Resource Farmers
Only 7.4 percent of family farm households were classified as limited-resource farms in 2012, based on relatively low farm sales and low household income (see the table "Characteristics of principal farm operator households, by limited-resource farmer status, 2012," in the Farm Household Income and Characteristics data product). On average, they lost money farming on a cash basis (after depreciation). Some of these households had large farm losses, which explains why their median income is higher than their average income. (The opposite is usually true for most farm classifications.) Their relatively low off-farm income is not surprising, given that nearly 55 percent of principal operators of limited-resource farms are age 65 or older. However, in spite of their low sales and household income, their median net worth was over $376,000 in 2012.
