SO ME STATE? FARMS IN MISSOURI SHOW RECENT GROWTH

For the first time this century the number of Missouri farms is on the increase.

A newly released report by the Census of Agriculture shows that from 1992 to 1997 the number of Show Me State farms increased from 98,082 to 98,860.

In 1992, only Texas, with more than 185,000 farms, had more farms than Missouri. Texas still ranks No. 1 and Missouri No. 2 in numbers of farms.

In 1987, census statistics revealed fewer than 1,800 farms in Cape Girardeau County. But almost a decade later, there are 2,300 farms in the county.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a farm as "any establishment from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are sold or would normally be sold during a year."

Of the 98,860 farms in Missouri in 1997, 55.6 percent sold more than $100,000 of agricultural commodities. Another 27 percent sold between $10,000 and $50,000 worth of agricultural commodities. Thus, 81,600, or 82.6 percent of Missouri farms, sold more than $10,000 in agricultural commodities. The remaining 17 percent sold under $10,000 in goods.

Most of the farms in the latter category -- technically considered farms by census definition -- are really rural residences dependent mostly on off-farm employment or retirement income for their livelihood.

Overall, the value of Missouri's agricultural products sold in 1997 topped 5.3 billion.

In 1997, the 1,700 farms having sales in excess of $500,000 accounted for 41 percent of Missouri's total agricultural product sales.

These five leading commodities in values of sales accounted for 80 percent of Missouri's total agriculture sales:

-- Cattle and calves -- $1.1 billion, 21 percent of Missouri's total sales.

-- Soybeans -- $1.0 billion, 19 percent of total sales.

-- Hogs and pigs -- $843 million, 15 percent of total.

-- Poultry and poultry products -- $753 million, 14 percent of total sales.

-- Corn, $612 million -- 11 percent of total.

Missouri ranked 12th in the nation in total agriculture sales in 1997.

In 1992, there were 1,027 farms with sales of agricultural commodities in excess of $500,000. Five years later there were 1,700 farms with sales in excess of $500,000.

The number of farms with sales in excess of $100,000 remained stable. At the other end of the scale, farms with sales of less than $10,000 numbered 50,869 in 1992 but increased to 54,982 by 1997.

The total farm count in Cape Girardeau County includes farms of three to four acres, if they are being worked.

The USDA reported that in 1850 there was about 173,000 acres of farmland being worked in Cape County. By 1880, the figure had grown to 298,000 acres being farmed by 2,381 farmers, for an average of 125 acres each.

In 1910, more than 2,700 farmers were farming 348,957 acres in Cape County. From that point, the number of farms and owners started a downward spiral.

There are about 200,000 acres of crops in the county. For 1987, the USDA showed 974 sole owners and 281 part-owners of more than 1,300 farms in the county, averaging about 195 acres each.

Estimates by USDA show there are more than 2.5 million farms in the United States today, compared to about 6 million during the mid 1930s. The total land in farms is estimated at 982.6 million acres.

The number of farms continued to decline until 1992, with the average farm size increasing to 467 acres in 1992.

In 1850, each farmer in the United States produced on the average enough food for five persons. Today, each farmer produces enough food for nearly 100 persons.

Missouri Farm Facts

The Show-Me State is a big contributor to the world' agriculture industry:

-- Missouri has the second highest number of farms in the nation, 98,860.

-- Missouri's cash farm receipts increased 14 percent in 1997, to $5.56 billion.

-- Missouri's agricultural industry employs 15 percent of the state's total labor force, or about 400,000 workers.

-- Missouri annual exports more than $1 billion worth of agricultural products.

-- Missouri operates trade offices in Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Europe.

-- Missouri ranks 6th in potato, rice and Concord grape production.

-- The state ranks 9th in watermelon and cheese production.

-- Missouri ranks 10th in cotton production.

-- Missouri is a large supplier of Golden, Red Delicious and Jonathan apples, with more than 40 million pounds annually.

-- Missouri produces more than $225,000 worth of wool products a year.

-- Missouri is home to more than 2,000 agriculture businesses, including Monsanto and Ralston Purina.

-- The average size of a Missouri farm is 293 acres.

-- Six percent of U.S. cattle operations are in Missouri.

-- Five percent of U.S. hog operations are in Missouri.