Fewer Women Farming 
Of the 2.1 million principal operators in the United States, 
288,264 were women (Table 3). This was a 6 percent 
decrease since 2007 - larger than the decrease in male 
principal operators. But for all female operators (principal, 
second, and third), the decrease was only 1 .6 percent. 
Women were 14 percent of principal operators but 30 
percent of all operators. 
Some areas of the country have higher concentrations of 
women farmers than others. See particularly New England, 
Arizona, Oregon, and Washington (Fig. 1). In 16 states 
the number of female principal operators increased; in 34 
states, they decreased. 
Table 4 
Female Principal Operators, by Sales Class, 2007 and 2012 
(number of operators and percent) 
Annual Sales 
2007 
no. 
2012 
no. 
(%) 
Less than $10,000 
239,168 
218,046 
75.6* 
$10,000 to $49,999 
42,553 
44,375 
15.4 
$50,000 to $99,999 
9,111 
9,951 
3.5 
$100,000 + 
15,377 
15,892 
5.5 
Total 
306,209 
288,264 
100 
Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture. 
Average Age Rising 
The number of women operating farms with annual sales of 
$10,000 or more increased in all categories, but 91 percent 
of farms with female principal operators had less than 
$50,000 in annual sales (Table 4). 
Tables 
Female and Male Farmers, 2007 and 2012 
2007 
2012 
% change 
Female Operators 
Principal 
306,209 
288,264 
-5.9 
All 
985,192 
969,672 
-1.6 
Male Operators 
Principal 
1,898,583 
1,821,039 
-4.1* 
All 
2,296,342 
2,210,402 
-3.7* 
Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture. 
Fig.l 
Farms with Female Principal Operator, by County, 2012 
U.S.= 13.7% 
0 
Consistent with a thirty-year trend, farmers’ average age 
continued to increase (Fig. 2). For principal operators, 
average age increased 2 percent between 2007 and 
2012. Although second and third operators are younger, 
their average ages increased 4 and 3 percent respectively 
(Table 5). Among principal operators, 6 percent are under 
35 years old, 61 percent are 35 to 64 years, and 33 percent 
are 65 and older. The older age groups all increased in 
number. (Fig. 3) 
Fig. 2 
Average Age of Principal Operator, 1982 - 2012 
Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture. 
Tables 
Average Age of Farm Operators, 2007 and 2012 
Operator 
2007 
2012 
(years) 
% 
change 
Principal 
57.1 
58.3 
2.1* 
Second 
51.4 
53.4 
3.9* 
Third 
44.6 
46.0 
3.1* 
All 
54.9 
56.3 
2.6* 
Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture. 
Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture. 
2 
Farm Demographics 
