Presence of persons or housing units on farms. A farm is a place with $1,000 or more in sales of crops, livestock, or other farm products during the preceding calendar year. Farm residence is determined for both occupied and vacant housing units in rural areas. The question was structured to exclude units on city or suburban lots or on places of less than one acre. Urban areas are excluded through editing. Data are summarized in terms of housing units on farms or persons living on farms--not the number of farms. This item was determined on a sample basis.
In a rural area and on a place with $1,000 or more in sales of crops, livestock, or other farm products during the preceding calendar year.
In a rural area but not on a farm as defined above. This need not imply location in a sparsely settled area, since "rural" includes incorporated and unincorporated places with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants outside urbanized areas.
Farms have been counted since 1593; farm and nonfarm residence, since 1930. Before 1960, farm residence was determined essentially by self-identification; i.e., respondents answered whether they lived on a farm. Determination of farm residence based on acreage and sales of farm products began in 1960. In 1970, a farm was defined as a place in rural territory with at least $250 in sales of farm products, plus additional places with 10 or more acres and $50 or more in sales of farm products. The information on acreage in item H15 is included to allow comparable tabulations to be developed for both old and new farm definitions.
