United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content




Table 10. Profile of farms with pastured livestock types and few other livestock in the 1997 Census of Agriculture, by farm size
Very small farms * Small farms ** Medium-size farms *** Large farms **** All farms with pastured livestock types
Number of farms 412,996 146,112 109,744 38,513 707,365
Percent 58.4% 20.7% 15.5% 5.4% 100.0%
Percent that primarily produce crops 14.9% 13.4% 13.2% 6.8% 13.9%
Percent that primarily produce livestock 71.4% 68.6% 63.5% 70.9% 69.6%
Total agricultural sales ($) 6,717,579,727 5,106,766,498 8,725,670,108 11,553,280,413 32,103,296,746
Sales per farm 16,265 34,951 79,509 299,984 45,384
Livestock sales ($) 2,476,368,112 2,122,732,992 4,228,240,724 8,363,834,320 17,191,176,148
Sales per farm:
Mean 5,996 14,528 38,528 217,169 24,303
25th percentile 1,867 6,200 15,398 58,212 2,800
50th percentile (median) 3,500 9,837 24,050 93,500 6,250
75th percentile 6,210 14,600 38,461 180,000 15,400
90th percentile 11,000 22,650 63,921 412,500 40,200
95th percentile 17,987 37,043 110,000 700,000 78,108
Dollar value for sale of:
Cattle other than fattened cattle 2,007,674,260 1,884,431,286 3,895,807,911 7,794,093,738 15,582,007,195
Fattened cattle 62,797,593 15,357,447 7,583,157 1,597,697 87,335,894
Dairy products 1,714,621 540,362 264,665 900 2,520,548
Hogs and pigs 11,991,317 3,619,105 2,284,231 526,421 18,421,074
Chicken and turkey products 4,074,736 676,106 470,722 103,840 5,325,405
Specialty livestock products 5,184,330 2,241,843 4,596,010 7,817,181 19,839,363
Horses, ponies, mules, burros, donkeys 288,303,666 170,650,874 229,595,854 153,605,574 842,155,968
Sheep and goat products 94,627,589 45,215,969 87,638,174 406,088,969 633,570,701
Animal units:
Fattened cattle 32,259 7,621 3,696 785 44,361
Beef cows 4,718,183 4,989,796 8,645,936 12,233,622 30,587,537
Other beef cattle 2,064,015 1,936,928 3,706,249 6,206,236 13,913,428
Milk cows 7,016 1,558 1,322 938 10,834
Other dairy cattle 4,438 1,165 1,243 1,500 8,346
Hogs and pigs 10,724 2,989 1,770 373 15,857
Chickens 1,788 364 249 65 2,466
Turkeys 258 41 18 4 322
All types 6,838,681 6,940,462 12,360,483 18,443,524 44,583,150
End-of-year inventory:
Sheep and goats 1,606,371 715,538 1,408,287 4,929,101 8,659,297
Horses, ponies, mules, burros, donkeys 860,097 319,909 280,678 266,599 1,727,283
* Very small farms = less than 35 horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys, less than 35 beef cattle animal units, and less than 200 sheep and goats
** Small farms = 35-70 horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys or 35-70 beef cattle animal units or 200-400 sheep and goats
*** Medium-size farms = 70-210 horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys or 70-210 beef cattle animal units or 400-1200 sheep and goats
**** Large farms = more than 210 horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys or 210 beef cattle animal units or 1200 sheep and goats

< Back to Profile of Livestock Farms in the United States