provide a basis for comparing a part of Appalachia with the Nation. In 1997, the 290,455 farms in
those five states were reported as having an average total farm household income of $48,743 of
which $44,392 (91 percent) were from nonfarm sources. Thus, total household income was about
$11,000 less in Appalachia than in the U.S. However, the average farm household in Appalachia
had an income only 2 percent less than the average U.S. household (farm and nonfarm households
combined) income of $49,692.
In the U.S., small farms received both a higher proportion and, on average, a larger dollar
value from off-farm income than did larger farms. This, however, is somewhat misleading since a
large share of the off-farm income was received by small farms that are classified by ERS as
“residential style farms,” those where, while producing $1,000 or more in farm products, the primary
use of the property is for a residence by a household that has a nonfarm occupation. The average
nonfarm income received by the households owning these farms was $76,390 while their net farm
income averaged -$4,309.1 In contrast, limited resource small farms had an off-farm income of
$13,153 and farm income of -$3,229. Only farms with relatively high farm sales (over $100,000)
had average farm incomes that were positive. Since many of the small farms in Appalachia are
limited resource farms, the level of off-farm income for that category may be typical for the region.
Comparable data for farm/nonfarm incomes in the Appalachian Region are not available for
the 1960s when the Commission was formed. However, information on days worked off the farm
is available, although the categories reported in the Census of Agriculture have changed-in 1959 off
farm work was reported for any and 100 days or more while the categories are now any and 200 days
or more of off-farm work. In 1964, 38.3 percent of Appalachian farmers worked off the farm for 100
or more days and 50.6 percent worked off their farms at least some of the time. For the U.S., the
corresponding figures were 26.1 and 46.3 percent. For Appalachia in 1997, over 58.9 percent of the
farm operators reported some off-farm work and 42.3 percent reported 200 or more day’s off-farm
work; for the U.S. the comparable figures were 54 and 37 percent. Thus, while off-farm work
increased in Appalachia, it increased more rapidly for the rest of the country which now has only a
slightly smaller percentage of farmers reporting off farm work than in Appalachia. It should be
noted that these data are only for the farm operator and do not include off farm work by other family
members.
Conclusions and Implications
Appalachian agriculture is characterized by smaller farms and lower farm incomes than for
the averages of the U.S., although the average sizes of farms have increased in both Appalachia and
the United States. Farms in Appalachia are about one third the size of the average for the nation and
less of the area’s land is in farms due to steeply sloping land, thin or rocky soils and similar
conditions that preclude large scale, mechanized agricultural production systems. Because of
relatively poor quality of the land, farm numbers and land in farms have declined substantially during
the last or four or five decades. While the numbers of farms and land in farms also have declined
1This negative income is often misleading since many of these small farms have positive
cash flows, i.e., those where the values of sales exceed cash expenditures. They become negative
when all costs, including imputed land and labor cost, are considered.