Farm typology
# Farm typology

The USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has developed a farm typology, or farm classification, that divides the 2.1 million U.S. farms into 8 mutually exclusive and relatively homogeneous groups:

* limited resource farms
* retirement farms
* residential/lifestyle farms
* farming occupation/lower sales
* farming occupation/high sales
* large family farms
* very large family farms
* nonfamily farms.

Also, the eight categories can be collapsed into 3:

* rural residence farms
* intermediate farms
* commercial farms

Data for 2003 indicate that Commercial farms, those having sales of $250,000 or more annually, constitute 9% of all farms and account for 72% of production. Intermediate farms, constituting 24% of all farms, account for 19% of production. The largest number of farms, characterized as rural residence farms, constitute 68% of all farms and account for 8% of production.

