E2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 10,1981
Census
LANCASTER increased
numbers of small and large
farms and decreases in those
of medium size are outlined
by data from a report
released Monday by the
Commerce Department’s
Bureau of the Census
The U S Preliminary
Report is based on findings
from the 1978 Census of
Agriculture.
The U S Summary
publication summarizes
reports issued for each
county and state In addition
there are reports for each of
the four geographic regions.
A farm, for census pur
poses, is defined as an
operation which had, or
normally would have had,
$lOOO or more in agricultural
product sales during 1978.
Comparison with totals
from the last previous
census (1974) should be
made with caution because
of significant improvements
in data collection procedures
in 1978. Bureau officials say
they believe the im
provements in data
collection had a much
greater effect on the count of
farms than on measures of
agricultural production. The
effect of the improvements
are discussed further below
Census figures for 1978
show a total of 2,479,866
farms, averagmg 416 acres
in size, with one billion acres
of land
Based on 1974 census
figures adjusted for un
dercoverage, the count of
farms dropped by an
estimated 150,000, the
smallest drop in recent
The estimated
decrease in counts is subject
to sampling error '
Census officials indicate
that farms with less than 50
acres grew in numbers by
about 20,000. Farms 500
acres or more increased
about 7500 or two percent.
During the same period,
mid-size farms with 50 to 500
acres declined an estimated
175,000 farms, a loss of about
two percent.
Total cropland, rose five
percent from 440 to 461.9
million acres A bigger gam
was registered by irrigated
land, up 23 percent, from 41 2
to 50.7 million acres four
years later
Cropland used only for
pasture dropped 6.4 million
report charts gain by large, small farm
acres, from 82 7 in 1974 to
76 3 million in 1978, coin
ciding with the downward
cycle in cattle herds during
the period when cattle and
calves inventory dropped
from 113 2 to 105 9 million
head and farms with cattle
fell by 41,000 in number
Two percent, 23,000 farms
and ranches with 500 or more
head of cattle, had in
ventories amounting to 29
percent of the U S total The
North Central States had a
major share of the cattle
industry, 40 percent of the
farms and ranches and 41
percent of the inventories.
Dairy product sales from
221.000 farms in 1978
amounted to $ll4 billion
Milk cow numbers declined
nationally, from 10.7 to 10 4
million head Farms having
milk cows dropped from
404.000 to 334,000 Again, the
North Central States led,
with 4 7 billion cows and $4 8
billion in sales
Farms with hogs and pigs
climbed from 470,000 with
45.5 million head to 513,000
farms with 58.9 million head
Farms having inventories of
500 or more now account for
42 percent of the Nation’s
hogs compared to 33 percent
in 1974
Broilers sold went up 25
percent from 2 5 to 3 1 billion
birds on approximately
34,000 farms.
The number of farms
harvesting corn, the leading
US. crop in acreage,
declined from 883,000 to
843,000, while acreage rose
from 61 7 to 70.7 million
Farms with soybeans were
up from 542,000 to 551,000 in
1978, with 62 million acres
harvested, a 29 percent
increase over 1974
Hay was cut on 1 2 million
farms with 61 8 million acres
harvested, five percent more
farms and 10 percent more
acres than in 1974
Wheat dropped both in
farms reporting 534,000 to
384,000 and in acreage
harvested, 63 to 54 5 million
Regionally, 562,000 North
Central farms harvested 58.1
million acres or com, 82
percent of the U S total,
compared with 574,000 farms
and 51 2 million acres in 1974
and grew 38 million acres of
soybeans or 61 percent of the
total.
The leading crop in the
2.5 million farms on 1 billion acres
South was soybeans, moving
up in four years from 142,000
to 159,000 farms and from
15.3 to 23 6 million acres
harvested.
Wheat was the dominant
crop in the West, more than
14 million acres for both
census years, but with farms
declining from 55,000 to
46,000
Hay led m the Northeast,
up from 90,000 to 105,000
farms and from 4 9 to 5 8
million acres in 1978
The average value of land
and buildings per acre went
up from $336 to $627 The
average value of land and
buildings per farm rose 78
percent from $148,000 to
$263,000
The sales of agricultural
products rose 33 percent
over the four-year period,
from $Bl 5 to 108 4 billion
The average sales per U S.
farm rose from $35,000 to
$44,000 Sales of livestock
and livestock products ac
counted for 47 percent of the
U S. total agricultural sales.
While gross sales were up,
costs also grew rapidly. For
example, feed costs rose 18
percent from $l3 6 to $l6 1
billion; commercial fer
tilizer up 25 percent from
$5l to $6 4 billion, and
gasoline and other
petroleum products in
creased 64 percent from $3 1
to $5.1 billion
Total energy costs on
farms was about $6 2 billion
In farm product sales by
geographic region, the North
Central States with 41
percent of the farms held a
strong lead, contributing 44
percent, $47.6 billion to the
U S. total
The South was next, with
$33.1 billion, followed by the
West, $22 billion, and the
Northeast, $5 7 billion The
average per farm sales was
highest in the West, $77,000
WOOD-WORK MACHf
/fihT ha/Clta.
TJiAc GiLincin.il
125 mm (5") MODEL 90058
Heavy Duty
9.4 amp Motor
Special price *lo3°°
*"X,
Ov *■
4
The GENERAL 8 Jointer is a large rugged extremely rigid and
accurate machine It is made of semi steel castings well ribbed (or
rigidity and accurately machined to give the highest quality of work It
is ideal to meet.the requirements o( industrial shops sash and door
plants lurmture manufacturers cabinet shop* schools and vocational
shoos
We Handle: • Powermatic • Rockwell • Makita • General • Poitras
We Stock: SENCO Pneumatic Tools, Staples and Nalls
BLUE BALL MACHINE WORKS
Box 716. Rt. 322 Blue Ball. PA 17506 717-354.4478
and lowest in the South, include the following. 241,000 by partnerships ai
$33,000 Eighty-eight percent or 2 2 54,000 by corporations.
Other facts on the US million of the 2 5 million which 48,000 were famn
agricultural industry farms were operated by held,
brought out by the Census individuals or families,
FARM
rA
V#>.
I£OU TIRE SERVICE, INC.
717-656-6181 or 656-2574 258 W. MAIN ST.. LEOLA, PA
WE NOW HAVE IN STOCK
MODEL 480
GENERAL
8" JOINER
64” EXTRA LONG
TABLE
“In Stock”
BIG
SAVINGS
ON EITHER
or SNOW TIRES
• Plenty of Snow Tires in Stock
• All Size Farm Tire in Stock
• Fast Friendly Service
COMPLETE LINE OF
RADIAL TIRES
Including Michelin
GOOD STOCK
OF TRUCK TIRES
PASSENGER FARM TRUCK TIRES
lERY AND ACCESSORIES
(Turn to Page E 4)
MODEL 390
GENERAL
20" WOOD CUTTING
BANDSAW
“In Stock”
Featuring
• MODERN DESIGN
• ACCURACY
• RUGGEDNESS
• VERSATILITY
Model 130
GENERAL
14"
SINGLE
SURFACE
PLANER
"In Stock"