Ohio agriculture remains a critical and thriving industry for the state, and the number of farms, average farm size, and volume of agricultural production have remained stable or grown despite increasing economic and weather stress over the last two decades. However, behind this backdrop of stability are important changes and trends that shed light on the stress and anxiety that many Ohio farmers feel.
Farm operators are getting older, and fewer young people are going into agriculture. Farms are becoming more and more specialized. Just a few very large farms produce the bulk of all agricultural products. Mid-size family farms are in decline, while the number of very small part-time farms and very large farms are both increasing. These changes can be seen in new patterns of land use. The economics of running a farm have been transformed, reflecting changes in the US and Ohio farm sector.
Ohio’s farming community has been resilient in the face of these changes. However, this rapid changing of the farm sector can also lead to hardships for farmers, farm families, and rural communities. It is important to understand these changes to better help farmers and rural communities during the current economic downturn.
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Ohio farmers are getting older. The average age of farmers increased from 54 to 58 years between 2002 and 2017, and the number of farmers aging into this bracket is increasing. In 2002, farmers over 55 accounted for 46% of all farmers. Today that number is 62%. The number of women who identify as the principal farm operator increased too. The majority of farms in Ohio have always been family farms, however, historically the census only allowed for one operator to be listed and most often it was the male of the family who answered. Even if a woman was the co-operator, she may not have been counted in the census. Now the census allows for multiple primary operators to be listed and we are better able to capture the contribution of women to the farm. But we have no way of knowing whether these women are new to the role, or if they have been an invisible part of it for quite some time. Regardless, we are seeing more female recognition in the farm business.
Other factors have remained stable over the last 20 years, however. For example, “beginning” farmers—people who have been farming for 10 years or less—have made up about a quarter of all Ohio farmers since 1997. The percentage of farmers who list farming as their primary career also remained about the same at about 42%. The number of farmers who rely on off-farm employment to provide additional income has remained steady at 60% as well.
The numbers of various business enterprise types have also not changed significantly. More than 87% of farms were still sole proprietorships in 2017, much like they were in 1997. A sole proprietorship refers to an operation that is owned by a single farmer. However, the number of family corporations increased slightly by 1.3% and the number of partnerships decreased by 2.7%. A family corporation is an enterprise owned by shareholders, which in this case are the family. A partnership is an operation owned by two or more farmers.
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The use of farmland has also changed since 1997. Overall, Ohio has lost millions of acres since the 1970s, due to urban development and reversion to forests. There were about 14 million acres of farmland in Ohio in 2017, which is 5% less than there was in 1997. While acres of soybeans (Ohio’s most common crop) increased by 20% over the last 20 years, acres of most other crops declined. The overall acres devoted to wheat, oats, barley, vegetables, and orchard crops decreased significantly, while acres of corn decreased only slightly.
Farms are also becoming more specialized. There are fewer farms raising the most common kinds of crops in the state, like corn and soybeans. Instead, a small number of large farms are responsible for most of the production of these crops.
Ohio farms make the majority of their income from the sale of crops, but the production of livestock is also an important part of the sector. Poultry production expanded by 150% percent in the last 20 years, and the production of broilers and hogs also increased.
Of Ohio’s 14 million acres of farmland in 2017, roughly 8 million were farmed by the landowner. This is a slight increase from 10 years prior. The remaining 6 million were operated by farmers who rented their land. Likewise, 70% of farms were full-owner farms in 2017, which is 8% more than in 1997. Part-owner farms became less common between 1997 and 2017, although they operated the majority (75%) of Ohio’s farmland and generated a majority of farm sales.
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The most dramatic changes in Ohio’s farm sector are economic. Gross sales and net income have declined by 13% and 28% respectively since 2012. Farmers are facing a “crisis of income,” unlike the “crisis of debt” of the 1980s due to the “cost-price squeeze.” This means that the costs farmers pay for inputs (like seeds and machinery) have increased faster than what farmers receive for their products. To make the same amount of money as before, farmers are forced to expand their businesses. That can be difficult and costly because the value of farmers’ land and assets fluctuate over the years. As a result, most Ohio farms have seen low profitability since 2002, although farmers’ debt-to-equity ratios are slightly better than the national average.
Farm sales of crops and livestock have increased overall since 1997, yet sales of all agricultural products and crops declined between 2012 and 2017. This is mostly due to a large drop in the price of corn and soybeans, two of Ohio’s most frequently planted crops. Therefore, it is not surprising that over half of Ohio farms reported net losses in income in 2017.
The demographics and economics of Ohio’s agricultural sector have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Ohio farmers skew older as fewer young people choose farming as a career. The expansion necessitated by the cost-price squeeze has made it so that a small number of very large farms produce 80% of agricultural products in the state. Mid-size farms struggle to keep up with these ever-expanding enterprises. As a result, it is harder to earn a living on a mid-size farm. Very small farms, however, are growing and thriving in Ohio, because unlike mid-size farms, they do not rely entirely on farming for income. Amish farms also continue to grow as they expand into new markets. Understanding these trends in a historical context can help us determine how to best assist Ohio farmers now and in the future.
Becot, F., Inwood, S., Jackson-Smith, D., & A. Katchova, (2020). The Status and Changing Face of Ohio Agriculture: Summary of Ohio Farm Trends 1997–2017. College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, SENR Technical Report. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.