collected. 
Switchgrass. This is a new item for 2012. In 2007 
and previous censuses, data were included in other 
field crops. Other field crops data are comparable. 
Tame hay. See Hay, other tame dry hay. 
Tenure. See Farms by tenure of operator. 
Tobacco transplants. Data are for tobacco 
transplants that were sold for transplant to farm 
fields. Transplants grown for transplanting to the 
same operation were not reported or removed during 
data review. 
Tomatoes in the open. Data are for tomatoes grown 
in the open and excludes tomatoes produced under 
glass or other protection. 
Total cropland. This category includes cropland 
harvested, other pasture and grazing land that could 
have been used for crops without additional 
improvements, cropland on which all crops failed or 
were abandoned, cropland in cultivated summer 
fallow, and cropland idle or used for cover crops or 
soil improvement but not harvested and not pastured 
or grazed. 
Total farm production expenses. Includes the 
production expenses provided by the operators, 
partners, landlords (excluding property taxes), and 
production contractors for the farm business in 2012. 
Tenant farmers reported expenses paid by landlords 
for the agricultural production on the operation, as 
well as their expenses. Farm or ranch operators who 
rented part of their land to others reported only the 
expenses for the land they actually used themselves 
and not expenses for land rented to others. The 2012 
total farm production expenditure includes all farm- 
related expenses such as customwork, fuel costs, cost 
of cutting timber, services provided to hunters, 
cooperative membership fees, etc. However, if the 
income from these farm-related categories was not 
considered a part of the operation (i.e., if the income 
was regarded as derived from a separate business), 
then the associated expenses were not included. The 
contractor’s portion of expenses was solely based on 
computer generated estimates for 2012. 
This item excludes expenses relating to non-farm 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
activities such as trading and speculation in the 
commodities market or livestock trading activities. 
Explanations of selected production expenses are 
listed below. 
All other production expenses. This category 
includes all expenses not listed on the report form. 
Examples include animal health costs, storage and 
warehousing, marketing and ginning expenses, 
insurance, etc. Health expenses and payroll taxes 
were excluded. 
Breeding livestock purchased or leased. These 
expenses include all breeding livestock and poultry 
purchased or leased during 2012 for production on 
the farm or ranch. The total includes amount spent 
for beef and dairy cows, heifers, bulls, sows, gilts, 
boars, rams, lambs, ewes, roosters, hens, layers, etc. 
Estimations of the value of livestock or poultry fed 
on a custom basis were to be made based on their 
value when they arrived on the farm or ranch. 
Cash rent paid in 2012 for land and buildings. These 
data include the cost of renting land and buildings 
that were part of the operation. Rent paid for the 
operator’s dwelling or other non-farm property and 
the value of the shares of crops and livestock paid to 
landlords were excluded. 
Chemicals. These 2012 expenses include 
insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other 
pesticides, including costs of custom application. 
Data exclude commercial fertilizer purchased. 
Contract labor. These data include payments made 
to contractors, crew leaders, cooperatives, or any 
other organization hired to furnish a crew of laborers 
to do a job that may involve one or more agricultural 
operations. In some cases, a crew leader may furnish 
some equipment. Data exclude expenses made on a 
contractual basis for repair or maintenance or for 
capital improvements, such as construction of farm 
buildings, installation of fences or irrigation systems, 
and land leveling. 
Customwork and custom hauling. These expenses 
include costs incurred for having customwork done 
on the place and for renting machines to perform 
agricultural operations. The cost of cotton ginning is 
excluded. The cost of labor involved in the 
customwork service is included in the customwork 
APPENDIX B B - 21 
