Small Farms Play Critical Role in Farm Economy

Small farms are often at the center of the discussion around healthy food, but what does that actually mean? Faith Parum, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, explains that the Department of Agriculture has a definition for what can be considered a small farm.

"USDA defines small farms as farms with less than $350,000 of gross cash farm income. That being said, that's gross cash farm income. So that's income before expenses," Parum said. "Expenses for farms that are small, are around or over $200,000 so most of these farms are only actually taking home around 45,000."