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 
7,755 
7,691 
6,075 
7,307 
5,574 
5,258 
6,216 
5,401 
Land in farms 
acres 
523,517 
517,879 
518,570 
577,637 
518,299 
526,440 
615,185 
612,819 
Average size of farm 
acres 
68 
67 
85 
79 
93 
100 
99 
113 
Estimated market value of 
land and buildings 
Average per farm 
dollars 
704,071 
829,090 
755,254 
418,750 
455,014 
460,410 
346,530 
205,677 
Average per acre 
dollars 
10,430 
12,313 
9,234 
5,543 
5,207 
4,898 
3,553 
1,963 
Estimated market value of all 
machinery and equipment 1 
....$1,000 
418,149 
433,507 
300,455 
267,940 
225,043 
191,141 
198,868 
153,346 
Average per farm 
dollars 
53,948 
56,373 
50,243 
36,684 
40,395 
36,359 
32,039 
28,429 
Farms by size: 
1 to 9 acres 
2,322 
2,199 
1,429 
1,791 
1,254 
1,044 
1,105 
920 
1 0 to 49 acres 
2,913 
2,885 
2,217 
2,608 
1,865 
1,738 
2,125 
1,652 
50 to 1 79 acres 
1,833 
1,903 
1,673 
2,124 
1,690 
1,667 
2,016 
1,814 
180 to 499 acres 
574 
586 
594 
636 
614 
654 
813 
856 
500 to 999 acres 
81 
90 
129 
118 
121 
121 
126 
130 
1 ,000 to 1 ,999 acres 
25 
24 
30 
26 
26 
29 
26 
21 
2,000 acres or more 
7 
4 
3 
4 
4 
5 
5 
8 
Total cropland 
farms 
5,249 
5,508 
4,898 
6,324 
4,990 
4,853 
5,654 
4,941 
acres 
160,789 
187,406 
207,734 
247,267 
223,573 
235,284 
272,588 
265,866 
Harvested cropland 
farms 
4,834 
4,792 
4,210 
5,696 
4,587 
4,417 
5,084 
4,608 
acres 
137,039 
153,993 
159,253 
184,480 
168,765 
173,255 
194,874 
197,769 
Irrigated land 
farms 
1,746 
1,630 
1,580 
2,021 
1,630 
1,336 
1,316 
1,000 
acres 
23,433 
23,133 
23,720 
26,820 
24,564 
19,909 
20,158 
17,331 
Market value of agricultural 
products sold (see text) 
....$1,000 
492,211 
489,820 
384,314 
483,529 
454,404 
350,639 
340,464 
281,436 
Average per farm 
dollars 
63,470 
63,687 
63,262 
66,173 
81,522 
66,687 
54,772 
52,108 
Crops, including nursery 
and greenhouse crops 
....$1,000 
382,915 
364,481 
277,069 
384,933 
357,377 
255,138 
215,855 
139,428 
Livestock, poultry, and 
their products 
....$1,000 
109,296 
125,338 
107,244 
98,596 
97,027 
95,500 
124,609 
142,008 
Farms by value of sales 2 : 
Less than $2,500 
3,663 
3,329 
2,592 
2,613 
1,616 
1,572 
2,167 
1,622 
$2,500 to $4,999 
727 
839 
647 
876 
664 
656 
830 
706 
$5,000 to $9,999 
828 
769 
623 
851 
707 
655 
720 
655 
$10,000 to $24,999 
861 
1,035 
715 
901 
753 
696 
770 
690 
$25,000 to $49,999 
486 
518 
422 
609 
507 
476 
494 
526 
$50,000 to $99,999 
432 
398 
385 
531 
468 
462 
515 
544 
$100,000 to $499,999 
558 
609 
556 
749 
687 
627 
623 
570 
$500,000 or more 
200 
194 
135 
177 
172 
114 
97 
71 
Farms by legal status for tax 
purposes (see text): 
Family or individual 
6,168 
6,318 
5,020 
6,023 
4,496 
4,232 
5,124 
4,541 
Partnership 
583 
574 
376 
521 
443 
401 
481 
377 
Corporation 
719 
641 
559 
667 
554 
549 
544 
413 
Other-cooperative, estate 
or trust, institutional, etc 
285 
158 
120 
96 
81 
76 
67 
70 
Principal operator by days of work 
off farm 3 : 
None 
2,736 
2,418 
2,841 
2,787 
2,285 
2,239 
2,371 
2,121 
Any 
5,019 
5,273 
3,234 
4,128 
2,980 
2,695 
3,516 
2,897 
200 days or more 
3,070 
3,257 
2,159 
2,639 
1,864 
1,666 
2,283 
1,838 
Principal operator by primary occupation: 
Farming 
3,878 
3,688 
3,283 
3,603 
2,927 
2,926 
3,174 
2,941 
Other 
3,877 
4,003 
2,792 
3,704 
2,647 
2,332 
3,042 
2,460 
Average age of principal operator 
years 
57.8 
56.3 
54.9 
54.2 
54.9 
53.8 
52.6 
51.5 
Total farm production 
expenses 1 
....$1,000 
539,319 
461,483 
364,833 
343,252 
311,068 
266,163 
251,496 
(NA) 
Selected farm production 
expenses 
Livestock and poultry purchased 
or leased 
....$1,000 
7,275 
5,819 
6,482 
7,673 
7,408 
7,374 
11,441 
11,468 
Feed purchased 
....$1,000 
50,732 
45,134 
26,253 
33,164 
31,880 
28,422 
33,525 
47,203 
Fertilizer, lime, and soil 
conditioners purchased 4 5 
....$1,000 
19,096 
14,788 
11,852 
11,146 
10,273 
10,021 
8,953 
7,155 
Gasoline, fuels, and oils purchased 
....$1,000 
30,619 
31,070 
14,927 
16,937 
14,893 
12,906 
12,042 
16,641 
Hired farm labor 
....$1,000 
164,366 
118,224 
99,292 
88,672 
81,630 
77,337 
66,579 
43,109 
Interest expense 6 
....$1,000 
22,182 
19,171 
13,451 
18,358 
15,766 
14,502 
13,788 
10,141 
Chemicals purchased 4 
....$1,000 
16,115 
12,490 
9,166 
8,847 
8,299 
7,616 
7,319 
4,885 
Livestock and poultry: 
Cattle and calves 
inventory 
farms 
1,423 
1,832 
1,269 
1,924 
1,420 
1,565 
2,112 
2,311 
number 
35,703 
46,852 
50,791 
64,362 
61,719 
68,331 
83,065 
102,366 
Beef cows 
farms 
849 
1,173 
775 
1,121 
799 
850 
1,124 
1,071 
number 
6,240 
8,646 
6,882 
8,075 
6,858 
7,347 
9,692 
8,176 
Milk cows 
farms 
278 
310 
380 
563 
483 
606 
838 
1,111 
number 
12,500 
15,050 
21,085 
26,852 
26,846 
30,906 
36,913 
49,891 
Cattle and calves sold 
farms 
870 
1,066 
795 
1,435 
1,158 
1,271 
1,725 
1,908 
number 
13,691 
20,405 
19,125 
25,905 
24,849 
29,839 
39,668 
47,034 
Hogs and pigs inventory 
farms 
478 
453 
273 
543 
383 
404 
498 
619 
number 
11,151 
11,553 
1 1 ,434 
21,309 
18,297 
16,439 
25,816 
39,570 
Hogs and pigs sold 
farms 
432 
350 
250 
358 
269 
296 
387 
451 
number 
23,536 
17,955 
18,594 
27,212 
23,636 
25,564 
40,048 
44,391 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
Massachusetts 7 
