Table 1. Historical Highlights: 2012 and Earlier Census Years 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
All farms 
2012 
2007 
2002 
1997 
Not adjusted for coverage 
1997 
1992 
1987 
1982 
Farms 
... number 
1,243 
1,219 
858 
994 
735 
649 
701 
728 
Land in farms 
acres 
69,589 
67,819 
61,223 
65,083 
55,256 
49,601 
58,685 
62,466 
Average size of farm 
acres 
56 
56 
71 
65 
75 
76 
84 
86 
Estimated market value of 
land and buildings 
Average per farm 
dollars 
786,093 
936,229 
658,290 
401,259 
442,402 
481 ,783 
420,279 
237,141 
Average per acre 
dollars 
14,041 
16,828 
9,225 
6,128 
5,885 
6,304 
4,748 
2,760 
Estimated market value of all 
machinery and equipment ' 
....$1,000 
69,689 
79,457 
47,926 
34,283 
28,517 
24,479 
25,178 
18,824 
Average per farm 
dollars 
56,065 
65,343 
57,882 
34,490 
38,799 
37,718 
35,918 
25,893 
Farms by size: 
1 to 9 acres 
433 
353 
208 
258 
181 
128 
131 
113 
1 0 to 49 acres 
451 
484 
305 
369 
257 
237 
250 
273 
50 to 1 79 acres 
278 
308 
271 
286 
221 
215 
241 
251 
1 80 to 499 acres 
70 
67 
63 
66 
61 
57 
66 
82 
500 to 999 acres 
7 
5 
6 
13 
13 
10 
11 
6 
1 ,000 to 1 ,999 acres 
1 
- 
4 
1 
1 
2 
2 
3 
2,000 acres or more 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
- 
- 
- 
Total cropland 
farms 
806 
926 
688 
867 
661 
591 
597 
655 
acres 
22,593 
24,457 
23,506 
29,750 
25,611 
24,411 
26,121 
28,180 
Flarvested cropland 
farms 
746 
823 
628 
778 
606 
517 
523 
576 
acres 
18,933 
19,325 
17,820 
21,537 
19,019 
18,136 
18,498 
21,252 
Irrigated land 
farms 
325 
313 
264 
211 
180 
132 
105 
84 
acres 
3,954 
4,306 
3,963 
3,333 
3,265 
2,979 
3,494 
2,224 
Market value of agricultural 
products sold (see text) 
....$1,000 
59,652 
65,908 
55,546 
51,133 
48,200 
39,512 
37,786 
30,376 
Average per farm 
dollars 
47,990 
54,067 
64,740 
51,442 
65,578 
60,882 
53,903 
41 ,726 
Crops, including nursery 
and greenhouse crops 
....$1,000 
48,981 
55,602 
47,138 
41,472 
39,423 
27,431 
26,685 
18,139 
Livestock, poultry, and 
their products 
....$1,000 
10,671 
10,306 
8,408 
9,661 
8,777 
12,082 
11,100 
12,237 
Farms by value of sales 
Less than $2,500 
451 
487 
287 
363 
210 
175 
290 
271 
$2,500 to $4,999 
186 
140 
110 
123 
91 
115 
79 
95 
$5,000 to $9,999 
162 
147 
98 
111 
91 
85 
82 
91 
$10,000 to $24,999 
179 
179 
130 
135 
109 
99 
79 
92 
$25,000 to $49,999 
68 
93 
65 
82 
73 
49 
41 
52 
$50,000 to $99,999 
89 
56 
56 
76 
64 
49 
55 
58 
$100,000 to $499,999 
84 
88 
84 
85 
78 
57 
58 
55 
$500,000 or more 
24 
29 
28 
19 
19 
20 
17 
14 
Farms by legal status for tax 
purposes (see text): 
Family or individual 
919 
918 
699 
789 
573 
529 
567 
620 
Partnership 
144 
110 
52 
66 
54 
42 
45 
52 
Corporation 
149 
176 
90 
127 
98 
73 
80 
51 
Other-cooperative, estate 
or trust, institutional, etc 
31 
15 
17 
12 
10 
5 
9 
5 
Principal operator by days of work 
off farm 
None 
454 
396 
392 
416 
328 
293 
265 
271 
Any 
789 
823 
466 
547 
381 
323 
395 
413 
200 days or more 
521 
500 
324 
382 
260 
202 
262 
299 
Principal operator by primary occupation: 
Farming 
619 
621 
442 
467 
370 
333 
345 
346 
Other 
624 
598 
416 
527 
365 
316 
356 
382 
Average age of principal operator 
years 
56.7 
56.3 
54.3 
54.0 
54.1 
53.4 
52.7 
52.4 
Total farm production 
expenses ' 
....$1,000 
68,335 
65,062 
48,029 
38,759 
35,350 
32,436 
29,736 
(NA) 
Selected farm production 
expenses ': 
Livestock and poultry purchased 
or leased 
....$1,000 
1,023 
748 
730 
975 
848 
1,130 
1,146 
1,271 
Feed purchased 
....$1,000 
6,287 
5,171 
3,121 
3,275 
2,924 
4,320 
3,684 
5,347 
Fertilizer, lime, and soil 
conditioners purchased ® 
....$1,000 
2,960 
3,175 
1,853 
1,613 
1,528 
1,332 
1,335 
1,125 
Gasoline, fuels, and oils purchased 
....$1,000 
5,296 
3,950 
1,823 
1,820 
1,642 
1,487 
1,390 
1,819 
Flired farm labor 
....$1,000 
19,889 
16,165 
13,508 
1 1 ,258 
10,755 
9,076 
9,536 
5,559 
Interest expense ® 
....$1,000 
2,649 
3,159 
1,455 
2,003 
1,744 
1,473 
1,298 
1,569 
Chemicals purchased 
....$1,000 
1,760 
1,441 
1,047 
857 
824 
904 
778 
647 
Livestock and poultry: 
Cattle and calves 
inventory 
farms 
300 
276 
225 
300 
200 
208 
253 
340 
number 
4,667 
5,085 
5,308 
6,524 
5,749 
6,057 
6,930 
8,997 
Beef cows 
farms 
212 
227 
163 
193 
129 
133 
156 
192 
number 
1,447 
1,800 
1,481 
1,342 
1,062 
967 
1,133 
1,251 
Milk cows 
farms 
30 
39 
43 
60 
45 
55 
70 
123 
number 
1,209 
1,325 
1,828 
2,355 
2,239 
2,565 
2,975 
3,872 
Cattle and calves sold 
farms 
161 
148 
118 
207 
158 
162 
206 
260 
number 
1,578 
1,629 
1,479 
2,586 
2,315 
2,509 
3,259 
3,544 
Flogs and pigs inventory 
farms 
77 
103 
64 
89 
60 
48 
59 
73 
number 
1,830 
2,316 
2,381 
3,763 
2,764 
5,488 
4,719 
3,030 
Flogs and pigs sold 
farms 
66 
81 
51 
60 
45 
41 
49 
45 
number 
4,477 
4,526 
3,041 
7,578 
4,951 
6,011 
4,990 
3,269 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
Rhode Island 7 
