This web site contains material prepared for the The National Organization of Professional Hispanic Natural Resources Conservation Service Employees (NOPHNRCSE) Conference in in Fort Worth, TX, June 25-27, 2002. It started with a presentation at the prior NOPHNRCSE meeting Washington, D.C., June 26-30, 2000 by Dr. Fen Hunt and David Buland, (NRCS) Economists. Later analysis updated this data with the 2002, 2007, and 2012 Ag. Census data and updated NRCS customer data. The trend of increasing Hispanic Farms in the US continues, with the number of US counties with Hispanic Farmers increasing from 589 counties in 1982 to 2,407 counties in 2012.
NRCS Hispanic Data - Paper / Presentation / Posters in various formats
Beginning, limited-resource, and socially disadvantaged farmers make up as much as 40 percent of all U.S. farms. This report compares the natural resource characteristics, resource issues, and conservation treatment costs on farms operated by targeted farmers with those of other participants in the largest U.S. working-lands and land retirement conservation programs.
Ninety-one percent of U.S. farms are classified as small gross cash farm income (GCFI) of less than $250,000. About 60 percent of these small farms are very small, generating GCFI of less than $10,000. These very small noncommercial farms, in some respects, exist independently of the farm economy because their operators rely heavily on off-farm income. The remaining small farms small commercial farms account for most small-farm production. Overall farm production, however, continues to shift to larger operations, while the number of small commercial farms and their share of sales maintain a long-term decline. The shift to larger farms will continue to be gradual, because some small commercial farms are profitable and others are willing to accept losses.
Dismukes, Robert, 1997. Characteristics and Risk Management Needs of Limited-Resource and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers. USDA-Economic Research Service, Agriculture Information Bulletin, No. 733.
Durand, J., D.S. Massey, & F. Charvet, 2000. The Changing Geography of Mexican Immigration to the United States: 1910-1996. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 81(1), University of Texas.
Economic Research Service, USDA, Farm Labor: Farm Labor Data
Economic Research Service, USDA, RURAL CONDITIONS AND TRENDS, Vol. 11, #2-47, Economic Research Service, USDA, Farm Labor: Farm Labor Data, Almost Half of Hired Farmworkers 25 Years and Older Earn Poverty-Level Wages
Effland, A.B.W., and K. Kassel, 1998. Hispanics in Rural America: The Influence of Immigration and Language on Economic Well-Being. In Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Rural Areas: Progress and Stagnation, 1980-1990, L.L. Swanson, ed., USDA-Economic Research Service, Agricultural Economic Report No. 731.
Effland, A.B.W., R.A. Hoppe, & P.R. Cook, 1998. Minority & Women Farmers in the U.S. In Agricultural Outlook, USDA-Economic Research Service, AGO-251.
Fimmen, Carol, Burton Witthuhn, Jeff Crump, Michael Brunn, Gloria Delaney-Barmann, Debi Riggins, Maria Gutierrez, Dan Schabilion, and Britta Watters, 1998. A Spatial Study of the Mobility of Hispanics in Illinois and the Implications for Educational Institutions. Julian Samora Research Institute, Working Paper #43.
Gutierrez P. and J. Eckert, 1991. Contrasts and Commonalities: Hispanic and Anglo Farming in Conejos County, Colorado. Rural Sociology, Vol. 56(2), pp. 247-263.
The Hispanic Population, Census 2000 Brief; US Census Bureau, 2002.
Hoppe, Robert A. and James M. MacDonald; America's Diverse Family Farms: Assorted Sizes, Types, and Situations; USDA-Economic Research Service, AGO- No. 769
Huffman, W.E., and J.A. Miranowski, 1996. Immigration, Meat Packing, and Trade: Implication for Iowa. Iowa State University, Staff Paper #285.
Kraft, S., 1993. Pilot Study of Limited Resource Farm Operators in Southern Illinois: Alexander and Pulaski Counties Final Report. Submitted to the Illinois State Office of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and the Shawnee Resource Conservation Development Council.
Money Income in the United States: 2000, US Census Bureau, 2001
Mountjoy, D.C., 1995. Outreach Efforts: The Elkhorn Slough. Small Farm News, University of California at Davis.
Mountjoy D.C., 1996. Ethnic Diversity and the Patterned Adoption of Soil Conservation in the Strawberry Hills of Monterey, California. Society & Natural Resources, 9:339-357.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1996. Process for Identifying Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers. Social Sciences Team, Technical Report, Release 2.1.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1997. Working with Asian and Hispanic Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers. Social Sciences Team, Technical Report, Release 4.1.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1998. Conservation in the 1996 Farm Bill: Social Factors Influencing Program Implementation. Social Sciences Team.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1999. Social and Economic Data Access Web Site. Social Sciences Team.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2000. Performance and Results Measurement System Parity Report. Strategic and Performance Planning Division.
Perry, J., with B. Hoppe, et. al., 1998. Small Farms in the U.S. In Agricultural Outlook, USDA-Economic Research Service, AGO-251.
Rochin, R.I., 1989. The Changing Nature of American Agriculture and Its Impact on Hispanic Farm Labor: Topics for Research and Analysis. Michigan State University, Working Paper No. 3. http://www.jsri.msu.edu/publications/working-papers/215
Rogers, Carolyn C., 2000. Age and Family Structure, by Race/Ethnicity and Place of Residence, Rural Minority Trends and Progress. In Rural Minority Trends and Progress, USDA-Economic Research Service, AGO-731.
Runyan, Jack L.; The Number of Hired Farmworkers Increased in 2000 and Most Now Come From Minority Groups, in RURAL AMERICA, Fall 2001, V16, I3, p.44
Taylor, J. Edward, Philip L. Martin; For California farmworkers, future holds little prospect for change in California Agricultue, Jan-Feb2000
U.S. Growth and Change in the 1990s, US Census Bureau, 2002, www.census.gov
