Farms remain foundation in Wisconsin

Fifty percent or more of Wisconsin farmers now own computers, receive most of their household income from off-farm jobs, and favor restricting development on agricultural lands, according to a recent university study.

The 1999 Wisconsin Farm Poll of 1,407 Wisconsin farmers, conducted by the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, provides a snapshot of farms and farmers as the century ends.

Related document: “Farming in Wisconsin at the End of the Century: Results of the 1999 Wisconsin Farm Poll,” (PDF document)

“Compared with many states, Wisconsin still has a large number of mid-sized traditional family farms,” says Douglas Jackson-Smith, program co-director. “These are commercial-scale farms with gross sales over $20,000 that are owned, managed and worked by members of the farm household.”

Wisconsin lost almost 13 percent of its farms between 1987 and 1997. The decline was particularly severe for mid-sized commercial livestock farms; the number of hog farms decreased by 60 percent and dairy farms by 40 percent.

To better understand Wisconsin farm life, researchers asked farmers about the involvement of both the farm operator and spouse in off-farm as well as farming activities, about the use of different agricultural technologies and management practices, and about how they view public policy issues.

Although farmers are frustrated by high production costs and low commodity prices, the overwhelming majority of Wisconsin farm operators reported they were somewhat or very satisfied with their family’s quality of life, according to Jackson-Smith.

Most Wisconsin farms are diversified crop/livestock operations. The average Wisconsin farm in the survey operated roughly 250 acres in 1998, although dairy and cash grain operations farmed more land than cattle, hog or other types of farms.

Dairy farming generates more gross farm sales than other types of farms. Roughly two-thirds of all dairy farms had gross sales over $100,000 in 1998. At the same time, almost half the cash grain farms and more than two-thirds of the other farms had gross sales under $20,000.

“The survival of most farms has come to depend as much on the availability and quality of off-farm employment opportunities as it does on the general agricultural economy,” Jackson-Smith says. Fifty-five percent of Wisconsin farm households get at least half their household income from off-farm sources.

On 44 percent of farms in the sample, the farm operator was working at a regular off-farm job; the spouse was working a job on almost half of all farms.Almost two-thirds of the farms had either or both the operator and spouse working off the farm.

About one-third of respondents said they were on the verge of quitting farming or were unlikely to continue farming for another 5 years. However, more than half the farmers in the sample said they were likely to stay in business indefinitely. Most who expected to stay in business indefinitely said they could do so because they had enough off-farm income to help keep their family afloat. Almost twice as many dairy farmers as non-dairy farmers expected to farm indefinitely because their farm was providing sufficient income for their households.

Computer use continues to increase among Wisconsin farm operators. Although half of all farms now have a computer, less than one-third use a computer for managing farm records and less than 20 percent use one to access farm information on the internet.

Farmers in the sample widely support some restrictions on non-farm development on agricultural lands. More than 60 percent agreed that local government should restrict development on agricultural lands and that the state Farmland Preservation Program should be strengthened to control urban sprawl. Nearly half agreed that there should be statewide zoning to protect farmland and 46 percent agreed that farmers would need to accept restrictions on developing their land. Dairyfarmers were the most supportive of restrictions on non-farm development.

“Farmers are increasingly concerned about conflicts between farmers and their non-farm neighbors,” Jackson-Smith says. “Yet many farmers are torn between their desire to protect agricultural lands and their desire to sell their farmland at high development prices if they decide to stop farming.”

The research was supported by state funding to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.