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The ups and downs
of farming
Fewer
farms dotted Indiana's landscape last year, but agricultural
output of the state's principal crops was never better.
Indiana lost 1,000 farms with agricultural
sales of $1,000 or more this past year, leaving the state
with 63,000 farms--the lowest mark in recorded history, according
to the Indiana Agricultural
Statistics Service at Purdue.
Conversely, Hoosier farms produced record
corn and soybean crops. The total value of Indiana crops
rose 6 percent, to $3.31 billion.
Most farm losses occurred among mid-size operations,
with annual agricultural sales of between $10,000 and $100,000,
says Chris
Hurt, Purdue agricultural economist.
"Commercial farms are large enough to generate
a family living return," Hurt says. "For very small farms
with less than $10,000 in sales, the primary source of income
is something off the farm. That leaves our group in the center,
which is where we tend to lose most of our farms." |
