Table 66. Summary by Combined Government Payments and Market Value of Agricultural Products 
Sold: 2012 (continued) 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
Item 
All farms 
$1,000,000 or 
more 
$500,000 to 
$999,999 
$250,000 to 
$499,999 
$100,000 to 
$249,999 
$50,000 to 
$99,999 
PRINCIPAL OPERATOR CHARACTERISTICS 
Sex of operator: 
Male 
5,248 
83 
114 
177 
321 
358 
Female 
2,507 
6 
3 
24 
49 
92 
Primary occupation: 
Farming 
3,878 
75 
103 
170 
296 
340 
Other 
3,877 
14 
14 
31 
74 
110 
Place of residence: 
On farm operated 
6,038 
33 
63 
117 
248 
322 
Not on farm operated 
1,717 
56 
54 
84 
122 
128 
Days worked off farm: 
None 
2,736 
68 
92 
140 
205 
234 
Any 
5,019 
21 
25 
61 
165 
216 
1 to 49 days 
743 
7 
2 
16 
25 
34 
50 to 99 days 
447 
- 
1 
9 
16 
19 
100 to 199 days 
759 
1 
3 
8 
40 
49 
200 days or more 
3,070 
13 
19 
28 
84 
114 
Years on present farm: 
2 years or less 
328 
- 
1 
4 
5 
22 
3 or 4 years 
507 
1 
2 
11 
16 
40 
5 to 9 years 
1,119 
11 
14 
13 
38 
52 
10 years or more 
5,801 
77 
100 
173 
311 
336 
Average years on present farm 
21.6 
26.9 
28.5 
25.1 
25.5 
21.7 
Years operating any farm (see text): 
2 years or less 
223 
- 
- 
1 
4 
10 
3 or 4 years 
433 
1 
2 
11 
8 
31 
5 to 9 years 
993 
6 
12 
11 
31 
60 
10 years or more 
6,106 
82 
103 
178 
327 
349 
Average years operating any farm 
23.6 
30.4 
30.3 
26.8 
28.0 
24.1 
Age group: 
Under 25 years 
60 
- 
- 
- 
3 
8 
25 to 34 years 
359 
3 
4 
17 
13 
50 
35 to 44 years 
655 
9 
14 
22 
27 
48 
45 to 49 years 
797 
6 
10 
15 
38 
26 
50 to 54 years 
1,136 
8 
16 
34 
57 
68 
55 to 59 years 
1,283 
15 
22 
31 
73 
66 
60 to 64 years 
1,132 
19 
20 
22 
64 
73 
65 to 69 years 
933 
13 
11 
31 
35 
38 
70 years and over 
1,400 
16 
20 
29 
60 
73 
Average age 
57.8 
59.1 
58.1 
56.4 
57.7 
55.3 
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin (see text) 
142 
3 
2 
20 
20 
- 
Race: 
American Indian or Alaska Native 
15 
- 
- 
- 
- 
2 
Asian 
71 
- 
2 
- 
1 
- 
Black or African American 
80 
1 
- 
1 
1 
2 
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 
1 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
White 
7,559 
87 
115 
200 
367 
446 
More than one race reported 
29 
1 
- 
- 
1 
- 
Farms by number of persons living in 
operator's household: 
1 person 
1,201 
7 
14 
22 
53 
75 
2 people 
3,664 
45 
53 
80 
155 
176 
3 people 
1,161 
15 
17 
34 
79 
95 
4 people 
1,040 
15 
20 
37 
47 
75 
5 or more people 
689 
7 
13 
28 
36 
29 
Percent of operator's total 
household income from farming: 
Less than 25 percent 
5,727 
13 
18 
35 
93 
164 
25 to 49 percent 
575 
18 
7 
22 
34 
75 
50 to 74 percent 
636 
16 
39 
49 
99 
71 
75 to 99 percent 
368 
18 
14 
44 
69 
49 
1 00 percent 
449 
24 
39 
51 
75 
91 
Operator is a hired manager farms 
490 
29 
14 
30 
57 
71 
acres 
73,847 
26,004 
4,517 
4,883 
6,328 
5,599 
Farms with- 
Internet access 
6,207 
83 
105 
164 
318 
375 
Dial-up service 
341 
1 
3 
4 
11 
26 
DSL service 
1,417 
16 
20 
43 
66 
89 
Cable modem service 
3,104 
46 
61 
93 
172 
176 
Fiber-optic service 
766 
18 
13 
24 
42 
46 
Mobile broadband plan for a computer 
or cell phone 
776 
19 
19 
36 
42 
67 
Satellite service 
384 
1 
2 
4 
18 
16 
Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
235 
2 
1 
9 
10 
13 
Other Internet service 
63 
- 
1 
2 
5 
- 
Farms by number of households sharing 
in net income of operation: 
1 household 
6,737 
41 
64 
109 
267 
374 
2 households 
742 
24 
25 
59 
68 
57 
3 households 
168 
12 
16 
18 
21 
9 
4 households 
66 
6 
8 
6 
10 
9 
5 or more households 
42 
6 
4 
9 
4 
1 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
120 Massachusetts 2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
