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 
5,248 
3,792 
970 
486 
2,683 
2,565 
Female 
2,507 
1,962 
232 
313 
1,254 
1,253 
Primary occupation: 
Farming 
3,878 
2,668 
758 
452 
1,992 
1,886 
Other 
3,877 
3,086 
444 
347 
1,945 
1,932 
Place of residence: 
On farm operated 
6,038 
4,800 
967 
271 
2,992 
3,046 
Not on farm operated 
1,717 
954 
235 
528 
945 
772 
Days worked off farm: 
None 
2,736 
1,950 
519 
267 
1,382 
1,354 
Any 
5,019 
3,804 
683 
532 
2,555 
2,464 
1 to 49 days 
743 
533 
72 
138 
452 
291 
50 to 99 days 
447 
324 
67 
56 
203 
244 
100 to 199 days 
759 
573 
96 
90 
380 
379 
200 days or more 
3,070 
2,374 
448 
248 
1,520 
1,550 
Years on present farm: 
2 years or less 
328 
190 
18 
120 
193 
135 
3 or 4 years 
507 
286 
59 
162 
217 
290 
5 to 9 years 
1,119 
806 
172 
141 
512 
607 
10 years or more 
5,801 
4,472 
953 
376 
3,015 
2,786 
Average years on present farm 
21.6 
22.4 
23.8 
12.8 
22.4 
20.8 
Years operating any farm (see text): 
2 years or less 
223 
127 
8 
88 
127 
96 
3 or 4 years 
433 
269 
37 
127 
189 
244 
5 to 9 years 
993 
690 
136 
167 
463 
530 
1 0 years or more 
6,106 
4,668 
1,021 
417 
3,158 
2,948 
Average years operating any farm 
23.6 
24.2 
26.5 
15.2 
24.5 
22.7 
Age group: 
Under 25 years 
60 
41 
11 
8 
25 
35 
25 to 34 years 
359 
140 
54 
165 
145 
214 
35 to 44 years 
655 
411 
117 
127 
316 
339 
45 to 49 years 
797 
609 
114 
74 
394 
403 
50 to 54 years 
1,136 
828 
208 
100 
605 
531 
55 to 59 years 
1,283 
980 
182 
121 
590 
693 
60 to 64 years 
1,132 
832 
196 
104 
609 
523 
65 to 69 years 
933 
759 
133 
41 
469 
464 
70 years and over 
1,400 
1,154 
187 
59 
784 
616 
Average age 
57.8 
59.3 
56.8 
49.3 
58.6 
57.1 
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin (see text) 
142 
98 
20 
24 
47 
95 
Race: 
American Indian or Alaska Native 
15 
3 
3 
9 
15 
- 
Asian 
71 
18 
3 
50 
20 
51 
Black or African American 
80 
18 
4 
58 
53 
27 
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 
1 
1 
- 
- 
1 
- 
White 
7,559 
5,687 
1,190 
682 
3,832 
3,727 
More than one race reported 
29 
27 
2 
- 
16 
13 
Farms by number of persons living in 
operator's household: 
1 person 
1,201 
938 
138 
125 
970 
231 
2 people 
3,664 
2,791 
559 
314 
1,734 
1,930 
3 people 
1,161 
830 
222 
109 
558 
603 
4 people 
1,040 
689 
172 
179 
429 
611 
5 or more people 
689 
506 
111 
72 
246 
443 
Percent of operator's total 
household income from farming: 
Less than 25 percent 
5,727 
4,553 
681 
493 
2,985 
2,742 
25 to 49 percent 
575 
352 
109 
114 
272 
303 
50 to 74 percent 
636 
393 
158 
85 
290 
346 
75 to 99 percent 
368 
214 
112 
42 
168 
200 
1 00 percent 
449 
242 
142 
65 
222 
227 
Operator is a hired manager farms 
490 
320 
86 
84 
232 
258 
acres 
73,847 
55,198 
15,094 
3,555 
37,606 
36,241 
Farms with- 
Internet access 
6,207 
4,536 
995 
676 
2,861 
3,346 
Dial-up service 
341 
244 
60 
37 
179 
162 
DSL service 
1,417 
972 
269 
176 
587 
830 
Cable modem service 
3,104 
2,295 
477 
332 
1,433 
1,671 
Fiber-optic service 
766 
585 
99 
82 
399 
367 
Mobile broadband plan for a computer 
or cell phone 
776 
516 
141 
119 
320 
456 
Satellite service 
384 
302 
56 
26 
173 
211 
Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
235 
180 
37 
18 
99 
136 
Other Internet service 
63 
49 
7 
7 
37 
26 
Farms by number of households sharing 
in net income of operation: 
1 household 
6,737 
5,114 
958 
665 
3,607 
3,130 
2 households 
742 
496 
170 
76 
242 
500 
3 households 
168 
87 
50 
31 
55 
113 
4 households 
66 
37 
14 
15 
25 
41 
5 or more households 
42 
20 
10 
12 
8 
34 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
218 Massachusetts 2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
