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: Also, the eight categories can be collapsed into 3: 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.
The largest number of farms, characterized as rural residence farms, constitute 68% of all farms and account for 8% of production.
This article incorporates public domain material from Jasper Womach.
Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition (PDF).
Congressional Research Service.