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FARMS IN TEXAS
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Source: USDA Agricultural Statistic Service (Austin, 1997), 126.
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Despite its popular image, Texas is an urban state. Urban residents became a majority as early as 1950,
and by 1992, 82 percent of the population lived on 6 percent of the land.* Still agriculture remains
important to the state's economy. In 2001 gross cash receipts for agricultural crops and livestock totaled $13. billion. This figure represents approximately 1.8
percent of the state's total $734 billion gross state product ( the value of all goods and services produced in the state.).* The figure for cash receipts, however,
does not reflect agriculture's full contribution to the economy. Farmers and ranchers usually do not pay themselves a wage. Moreover, the sale of some
agricultural equipment, such as tractors, and agricultural inputs, such as seed, are considered retail trade and are therefore not represented as an
agricultural good. Likewise, food processing and kindred products, which were $8 billion in gross state product in 1999, are considered part of the
manufacturing sector, not the agricultural sector. In the same vein, the 42.4 billion in food store sales in 2001 were entirely counted as retail trade, not agriculture.*
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FYI
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According to a report issued in 1995 by the Delta Land and Community
Corporation, neither U.S. farmers nor the environment is doing well. Delta Land and Community points out that "Farms are increasingly unprofitable yet
agricultural production is higher than at any time in the country's history. Food processing companies expect an 18% to 20% return on their investment,
while farmers get 2-3% if they are lucky."*
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In 2001, the state led the country in the value of farm real
estate, valued at approximately $83.2 billion .(California was second and Illinois third in the value of farm real estate. )Yet ,the role of agriculture in the state's economy has declined.
According to the State Comptroller's Office, "During the 1920s, two-thirds of the total value of goods produced in the state came from farming, oil and natural gas production, and
petroleum-related manufacturing. By 2001 those sectors accounted for 43 percent of all goods produced and, more significantly, just 11 percent of all goods and services
produced in Texas. By 2020, it is estimated that these natural resources will make up only one-third of all Texas-produced goods, and only 6 percent of the total economy.*
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DEFINITION OF A FARM OVER TIME
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Throughout the years, the definitions used by the different
Censuses of Agriculture have directly affected the number of farms and ranches.
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1910 to 1924
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1. any place of 3 or more acres on which there were agricultura operations, or
2. any place less than 3 acres that had a value of production of $250 or more.
3.
Places less than 3 acres having less than $250 in value of production were counted as farms, provided they required the continuous services of at least one person.
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1925 to 1949
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1. any place having 3 or more acres, or
2. any place having $250 or
greater value of production
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1950 to 1954
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1. any place of 3 or more acres with a value of farm products of $150 or more, or
2. any place less than 3 acres with a value of sales of $250 or more.
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1955 to 1974
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1. any place of 10 or more acres that had annual sales of $50 or more, or
2.
any place with less than 10 acres that had annual sales of $250 or more
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1975 to present
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a farm is defined as a place that sells or normally would sell $1,000
or more of agricultural products annually.
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During the past fifty years the number of Texans employed in production agriculture also has declined.
- In 1940, approximately 23 percent of Texans were producers on farms and ranches and 17 percent
were employed in agricultural processing and distribution.
- In 1995, 2.4 percent were producers on farms and ranches and 20 percent were involved with
agricultural marketing or services.*
- From 1970 to 1998, the only sector to lose jobs in Texas was farming. However, this decline is in part
the result of improvements in technology and farm management practices which has resulted in the need for fewer workers..
- In 1997, 129,620,045 acres of land were in farms.Though the number of farms increased from
1992 to 1997 from 180,644 to 194, 301,
- The number of fulltime farmers decreased by 3 percent from 85,937 fulltime farmers in 1992 to
83,284 fulltime farmers in 1997.
- The average size of a Texas farm in 1992 was 725 acres, in 1997 the average size was 676 acres. *
- According to a study conducted in 2000 by Texas A&M University, approximately 80 percent of Texas
farms and ranches are less than 500 acres, and the state is losing farms and ranches between 500 and 2,000 acres --these "mid-size" farms and ranches
are responsible for "bread and butter" agriculture production in the state.*
From 1982 to 1992 conversion of rural land to urban uses exceeded 2.6 million acres.Texas ranked number one in the
number of acres of developed land in 1997. According to a study by American Farmland Trust, 489,000 acres of prime
Texas farmland was lost to suburbs, development, urbanization from 1982-1992.*
Though in many states, corporate agriculture has become dominant, according to a study by the Texas Comptroller for
Public Accounts, family-held farms are standing firm in Texas. Between 1992 and 1997, the Comptroller's office
contends "there was an 8 percent increase in the number of family-held farms --either solely owned (97 percent) or
family incorporated (3 percent). During the same period, there was a 10-percent drop in the number of non-family owned corporate farms." *
The loss of agriculture land to urban sprawl, and fragmentation is expected to continue unless aggressive farmland protection measures are taken by the public and private sectors.
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