Family Farming

According to the USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture in 2017, there are 2,042,220 farms in the United States. The USDA definition of a farm is misleading as they include individuals with as little as $1,000 in agricultural product sales in this total. In contrast, the same Census tells us that large and very large farms together accounted for only 3.9% of all US farms, however, this group produced over 68% of all agricultural product sales. Howell Farms of Crossroads is one of only 8,972 farms in the country, 0.4% of the total, which produced 34% of the value of all US agricultural production.

We are just families whose business happens to be farming. We like to grow things ‐ and we are privileged to work together to grow them!

Economics dictates that the agriculture industry recognize and implement the efficiency and increased productivity of large scale operations – just as other industries such as manufacturing and retail have done. Yet, despite the trend toward consolidation of farms, 97% of all the farms in the US are still family owned and operated. Even in our “largest” category, 87% are owned by families. We are just families whose business happens to be farming. We like to grow things ‐ and we are privileged to work together to grow them!