Table 70. Summary by Tenure of Principal Operator and by Operators on Farm: 2012 (continued) 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
Tenure of principal operator 
Operators on farm 
Item 
Total 
Full owners 
Part owners 
Tenants 
One operator 
More than one 
operator 
PRINCIPAL OPERATOR CHARACTERISTICS 
Sex of operator: 
Male 
44,785 
28,873 
14,060 
1,852 
25,172 
19,613 
Female 
7,409 
6,361 
801 
247 
3,739 
3,670 
Primary occupation: 
Farming 
25,285 
14,396 
9,817 
1,072 
14,047 
1 1 ,238 
Other 
26,909 
20,838 
5,044 
1,027 
14,864 
12,045 
Place of residence: 
On farm operated 
43,740 
29,430 
13,204 
1,106 
23,688 
20,052 
Not on farm operated 
8,454 
5,804 
1,657 
993 
5,223 
3,231 
Days worked off farm: 
None 
21,550 
13,916 
6,986 
648 
12,444 
9,106 
Any 
30,644 
21,318 
7,875 
1,451 
16,467 
14,177 
1 to 49 days 
4,147 
2,941 
1,039 
167 
2,432 
1,715 
50 to 99 days 
2,069 
1,445 
525 
99 
1,121 
948 
1 00 to 1 99 days 
4,223 
2,883 
1,141 
199 
2,286 
1,937 
200 days or more 
20,205 
14,049 
5,170 
986 
10,628 
9,577 
Years on present farm: 
2 years or less 
1,512 
1,049 
276 
187 
745 
767 
3 or 4 years 
2,350 
1,558 
498 
294 
1,171 
1,179 
5 to 9 years 
6,318 
4,463 
1,453 
402 
3,114 
3,204 
1 0 years or more 
42,014 
28,164 
12,634 
1,216 
23,881 
18,133 
Average years on present farm 
24.1 
23.5 
26.7 
16.2 
25.3 
22.6 
Years operating any farm (see text): 
2 years or less 
1,047 
732 
186 
129 
518 
529 
3 or 4 years 
1,948 
1,319 
402 
227 
979 
969 
5 to 9 years 
5,456 
3,943 
1,144 
369 
2,729 
2,727 
1 0 years or more 
43,743 
29,240 
13,129 
1,374 
24,685 
19,058 
Average years operating any farm 
26.0 
25.3 
28.8 
19.0 
27.1 
24.7 
Age group: 
Under 25 years 
244 
88 
91 
65 
157 
87 
25 to 34 years 
2,736 
1,365 
993 
378 
1,395 
1,341 
35 to 44 years 
5,761 
3,367 
1,946 
448 
2,908 
2,853 
45 to 49 years 
4,997 
3,147 
1,617 
233 
2,602 
2,395 
50 to 54 years 
7,262 
4,662 
2,302 
298 
3,849 
3,413 
55 to 59 years 
7,945 
5,312 
2,374 
259 
4,244 
3,701 
60 to 64 years 
7,208 
5,056 
1,966 
186 
3,839 
3,369 
65 to 69 years 
5,968 
4,312 
1,543 
113 
3,540 
2,428 
70 years and over 
10,073 
7,925 
2,029 
119 
6,377 
3,696 
Average age 
57.6 
59.1 
55.2 
47.6 
58.6 
56.3 
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin (see text) 
674 
515 
137 
22 
357 
317 
Race: 
American Indian or Alaska Native 
204 
141 
49 
14 
84 
120 
Asian 
54 
42 
8 
4 
26 
28 
Black or African American 
216 
174 
25 
17 
126 
90 
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 
16 
14 
2 
- 
14 
2 
White 
51,539 
34,749 
14,734 
2,056 
28,586 
22,953 
More than one race reported 
165 
114 
43 
8 
75 
90 
Farms by number of persons living in 
operator's household: 
1 person 
6,884 
4,927 
1,632 
325 
5,970 
914 
2 people 
25,338 
17,844 
6,762 
732 
13,196 
12,142 
3 people 
7,398 
4,759 
2,252 
387 
3,612 
3,786 
4 people 
6,446 
3,988 
2,072 
386 
3,172 
3,274 
5 or more people 
6,128 
3,716 
2,143 
269 
2,961 
3,167 
Percent of operator's total 
household income from farming: 
Less than 25 percent 
36,822 
28,880 
6,723 
1,219 
20,337 
16,485 
25 to 49 percent 
4,092 
2,126 
1,709 
257 
2,373 
1,719 
50 to 74 percent 
4,824 
2,175 
2,385 
264 
2,780 
2,044 
75 to 99 percent 
3,140 
1,016 
1,968 
156 
1,698 
1,442 
1 00 percent 
3,316 
1,037 
2,076 
203 
1,723 
1,593 
Operator is a hired manager farms 
1,551 
898 
522 
131 
832 
719 
acres 
685,227 
177,774 
452,473 
54,980 
258,640 
426,587 
Farms with- 
Internet access 
36,426 
23,826 
10,973 
1,627 
18,459 
17,967 
Dial-up service 
5,184 
3,620 
1,429 
135 
2,783 
2,401 
DSL service 
10,092 
6,503 
3,123 
466 
4,918 
5,174 
Cable modem service 
6,766 
4,697 
1,695 
374 
3,507 
3,259 
Fiber-optic service 
701 
464 
205 
32 
371 
330 
Mobile broadband plan for a computer 
or cell phone 
8,692 
5,349 
2,881 
462 
4,170 
4,522 
Satellite service 
6,947 
4,414 
2,283 
250 
3,381 
3,566 
Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
985 
622 
328 
35 
469 
516 
Other Internet service 
1,243 
802 
376 
65 
610 
633 
Farms by number of households sharing 
in net income of operation: 
1 household 
43,472 
30,404 
11,385 
1,683 
25,777 
17,695 
2 households 
6,641 
3,782 
2,564 
295 
2,418 
4,223 
3 households 
1,252 
630 
539 
83 
387 
865 
4 households 
463 
230 
209 
24 
190 
273 
5 or more households 
366 
188 
164 
14 
139 
227 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
Michigan 223 
