|
News Room
Facts & Stats home
|
Ag Facts
Hampshire County
Farmland
- More than 9 percent of the state's farmland is located in Hampshire County, totaling 50,756 acres on 542 farms.
- The average Hampshire County farm is 94 acres.
Economics & Employment
- Hampshire County farms sold nearly $35 million worth of agricultural products
in 1997 or almost eight percent of the state's total.
- 1870 workers are employed on 119 farms in Hampshire County. 340 of those workers worked on farms 150 days or more during the year.
- Hampshire County farms paid more than $7.3 million in wages to workers in 1997.
- A little more than half of Hampshire County farm operators report farming as their principle occupation. The remainder report principle occupations off the farm.
- The average Hampshire County farmer is 53.2 years old.
- The vast majority of Hampshire County farms are family owned and operated, including sole proprietorships, partnerships and family-held corporations.
Crops
- The major commodity group in Hampshire County is dairy products, representing
20 percent of the county's total agricultural sales.
- The second largest commodity group is tobacco and the third is vegetables.
National Rank
Hampshire County ranks 49th among the top 100 counties in the U.S. for direct sales of farm products to consumers at a value of $1.6 million.
Sources: New England Agricultural Statistics, 2006; and U.S. Census of Agriculture, 2002
Compiled by: Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
|
Community Involved in
Sustaining Agriculture
  |
