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 
29,656 
14,627 
12,384 
2,645 
17,157 
12,499 
Female 
2,333 
1,786 
418 
129 
1,383 
950 
Primary occupation: 
Farming 
18,844 
6,806 
10,307 
1,731 
10,897 
7,947 
Other 
13,145 
9,607 
2,495 
1,043 
7,643 
5,502 
Place of residence: 
On farm operated 
24,334 
11,522 
11,180 
1,632 
13,423 
10,911 
Not on farm operated 
7,655 
4,891 
1,622 
1,142 
5,117 
2,538 
Days worked off farm: 
None 
14,049 
5,769 
7,319 
961 
8,322 
5,727 
Any 
17,940 
10,644 
5,483 
1,813 
10,218 
7,722 
1 to 49 days 
2,991 
1,640 
1,086 
265 
1,775 
1,216 
50 to 99 days 
1,190 
633 
419 
138 
702 
488 
1 00 to 1 99 days 
2,208 
1,155 
763 
290 
1,284 
924 
200 days or more 
11,551 
7,216 
3,215 
1,120 
6,457 
5,094 
Years on present farm: 
2 years or less 
787 
422 
179 
186 
447 
340 
3 or 4 years 
1,268 
697 
270 
301 
685 
583 
5 to 9 years 
3,569 
2,053 
1,015 
501 
1,879 
1,690 
1 0 years or more 
26,365 
13,241 
1 1 ,338 
1,786 
15,529 
10,836 
Average years on present farm 
25.5 
24.4 
28.5 
18.2 
26.0 
24.9 
Years operating any farm (see text): 
2 years or less 
535 
295 
111 
129 
340 
195 
3 or 4 years 
949 
540 
157 
252 
514 
435 
5 to 9 years 
3,000 
1,719 
817 
464 
1,601 
1,399 
1 0 years or more 
27,505 
13,859 
11,717 
1,929 
16,085 
1 1 ,420 
Average years operating any farm 
27.4 
26.4 
30.1 
20.4 
27.6 
27.0 
Age group: 
Under 25 years 
258 
57 
84 
117 
181 
77 
25 to 34 years 
2,631 
929 
1,046 
656 
1,468 
1,163 
35 to 44 years 
3,922 
1,701 
1,706 
515 
2,195 
1,727 
45 to 49 years 
3,034 
1,427 
1,350 
257 
1,722 
1,312 
50 to 54 years 
4,411 
2,037 
2,032 
342 
2,561 
1,850 
55 to 59 years 
4,639 
2,233 
2,148 
258 
2,652 
1,987 
60 to 64 years 
4,543 
2,416 
1,899 
228 
2,531 
2,012 
65 to 69 years 
3,188 
1,975 
1,066 
147 
1,852 
1,336 
70 years and over 
5,363 
3,638 
1,471 
254 
3,378 
1,985 
Average age 
55.9 
58.7 
54.3 
47.1 
56.3 
55.3 
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin (see text) 
200 
94 
95 
11 
138 
62 
Race: 
American Indian or Alaska Native 
817 
400 
292 
125 
448 
369 
Asian 
5 
5 
- 
- 
1 
4 
Black or African American 
6 
2 
3 
1 
3 
3 
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
White 
31,052 
15,956 
12,466 
2,630 
18,034 
13,018 
More than one race reported 
109 
50 
41 
18 
54 
55 
Farms by number of persons living in 
operator's household: 
1 person 
4,792 
2,757 
1,520 
515 
4,103 
689 
2 people 
15,111 
8,180 
5,909 
1,022 
8,081 
7,030 
3 people 
4,295 
1,964 
1,904 
427 
2,375 
1,920 
4 people 
4,167 
1,948 
1,779 
440 
2,105 
2,062 
5 or more people 
3,624 
1,564 
1,690 
370 
1,876 
1,748 
Percent of operator's total 
household income from farming: 
Less than 25 percent 
14,268 
10,473 
2,701 
1,094 
8,217 
6,051 
25 to 49 percent 
3,140 
1,702 
1,083 
355 
1,858 
1,282 
50 to 74 percent 
4,697 
1,839 
2,346 
512 
2,648 
2,049 
75 to 99 percent 
5,600 
1,541 
3,577 
482 
3,246 
2,354 
1 00 percent 
4,284 
858 
3,095 
331 
2,571 
1,713 
Operator is a hired manager farms 
1,168 
574 
456 
138 
643 
525 
acres 
3,663,551 
1,418,116 
1,892,503 
352,932 
1,897,647 
1,765,904 
Farms with- 
Internet access 
24,110 
11,718 
10,246 
2,146 
13,036 
1 1 ,074 
Dial-up service 
2,021 
972 
916 
133 
1,089 
932 
DSL service 
8,570 
3,962 
3,837 
771 
4,439 
4,131 
Cable modem service 
4,018 
2,369 
1,259 
390 
2,433 
1,585 
Fiber-optic service 
4,765 
1,985 
2,393 
387 
2,466 
2,299 
Mobiie broadband plan for a computer 
or cell phone 
3,864 
1,907 
1,518 
439 
2,056 
1,808 
Satellite service 
3,578 
1,641 
1,644 
293 
1,827 
1,751 
Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
644 
391 
194 
59 
349 
295 
Other Internet service 
553 
312 
195 
46 
319 
234 
Farms by number of households sharing 
in net income of operation: 
1 household 
24,737 
13,067 
9,506 
2,164 
15,668 
9,069 
2 households 
5,245 
2,416 
2,395 
434 
2,041 
3,204 
3 households 
1,155 
518 
536 
101 
401 
754 
4 households 
502 
236 
220 
46 
254 
248 
5 or more households 
350 
176 
145 
29 
176 
174 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
South Dakota 219 
