Is someone with one chicken being called a farmer even important? I think it is. With all the discussion about how food is grown and food animals are raised, connecting with farmers is more important than ever. I was growing those plants as a hobby; farmers do it for their livelihood. If you are on the farm and get flooded, it can change your outlook and what you do for the next two to three years. With that thought in mind, when I was growing two tomato plants, I was a gardener, not a farmer.
Skip to main content. Content ID By Heather Barnes. Read more about Women in Agriculture , Crops or Livestock. More Women in Agriculture. The glory of flowers. Individuals or businesses that meet the definition of farming may be able to deduct certain farm-related expenses or losses as part of their annual tax filing. The IRS does, however, make a solid distinction between a production farm and a so-called hobby farm in which an individual grows and sells small amounts of produce or other crops or livestock in addition to their regular employment off the farm.
While the income generated from these hobby farm sales must be declared when filing taxes, if it does not represent your primary source of income, you do not qualify as a farm according to the IRS. When it comes to figuring out your farm tax status, the IRS has several publications and resources available online at www.
Tori Jackson, professor of agriculture and natural resources with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service , works with farmers around the state and she defines a farm as land that produces food or fiber for sale or consumption off the farm. When people think of a farm, Jackson said, they usually put it into one of two broad categories — the small family farm or the larger corporate factory farm.
The census is administered by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service and gathers data on land use, ownership, production, income, expenditures and operator demographics. The most recent census was taken in and the results released this past April and are available online at www.
According to the USDA census, the smallest farms in the country with 1 to 9 acres in production account for less than 1 percent of all farmland.
The largest farms — those with 2, or more acres in production — account for 58 percent of all farmland in the country. Jackson said in Maine, however, smaller farms are on the rise with more young people becoming involved in agriculture.
According to the USDA census, there are 1, young farmers — individuals years-old or younger — working on 1, farms in Maine. Julia Bayly, staff writer for Hello Homestead, has worked in print journalism for more than three decades covering the unique characters and life of northern Maine. When not wrangling critters on her Rusty Metal Farm, Julia travels the world seeking adventure and great food wherever she can find it.
She loves dogs and chickens, tolerates cats, is unsure of ducks and does not trust goats. If you want to enjoy bitter vegetables, science says eat more of them. In addition, a farmer usually has to keep his equipment in good shape; do repair jobs around the house, barn, and sheds; clear out brush and cut fuel wood; possibly keep drainage ditches open or mend roads; and do a hundred and one odd jobs. Those who prefer work in the country to work in the city contrast these varied tasks with the monotonous job of the factory hand who performs the same operation at high speed, hour after hour and day after day; or with that of the white-collar worker, sitting at his desk all day long, often under artificial light and in a hot, stuffy room.
Industrial life, say the farming enthusiasts, is a relatively new experience for man. The modern type of factory and the crowded and grimy industrial city have only been in existence for about a century. It is true that a large portion of our population-and that of other industrial countries-has become adapted to the speedy tempo and inflexible routine.
Some even enjoy it, but many do not and would flee from the city if they could. It is true that nearly all of us feel deep kinship with nature—but the farmer lives with it. He is intimately connected with the cycle of life. Many envy him and long for a small plot of soil where they can at least plant and grow flowers and vegetables. But many farmers do not think of their occupation solely in terms of cash.
To till the earth, to plant seeds and watch them grow, to see the young shoots mature in the summer sun, and then to harvest the crop are, to many people, deep and rewarding pleasures. So is the intimate association with animals—cattle, horses or mules, chickens, pigs, or sheep—dumb creatures who serve man well but who must be cared for tenderly and patiently. These and other rewards of farming often compensate for a meager cash income, lack of household comforts, and constant worry about drought, frost, flood, or other unfavorable turns of the weather which may damage crops or ruin fields.
Those who prefer the city to the country have their answers to these arguments. Factory and office work, they say, may be less healthy and more nerve racking than farming.
Cities may be noisy and crowded compared with the quiet and serenity of country life. But an urban environment is more stimulating mentally. Its social life is richer. It offers more opportunities for entertainment-organized sports, movies, and in some of the larger cities, legitimate theaters, symphony orchestras, operas, ballets, lectures, museums, and the like. As a rule, farming is a family enterprise. The husband, wife, and children divide the labor, each doing what his or her strength and ability permit.
By such teamwork, the family is knit into a tight and harmonious unit. Because they work together as well as live together, farm families are generally more stable than urban families. This assertion is borne out by census figures which show that 19 per cent of family groups in cities were broken as against According to the farming enthusiasts, family life and all it stands for seem to be more appreciated in rural than in urban communities, where people in normal times do not stay at home so much and outside distractions make the members of some families almost strangers to each other.
Those who prefer city life often use as a final and supposedly clinching argument the fact that farming ordinarily brings a relatively small income in cash. What farmers have earned in the past is no certain guide to the future, but it does throw some light on the matter. This figure includes both money derived from the sale of crops and the value of food produced on the farm for home use.
But two-thirds had no such extra income. Of course, farmers have been better off in the past four years than in the census year of Still, the high incomes commonly earned in other types of business are relatively rare in agriculture, except for the small percentage of farmers who work several hundred acres, keep large dairy or ranch herds, run huge fruit farms, and the like.
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