Illinois FBFM Association and Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics
University of Illinois
Farm incomes can and do very greatly from year to year. As well, farm incomes vary by type of farm. This article will review trends in size, income for a group of Illinois FBFM member farms from 2012 to 2016. This group consists largely of grain farms with some livestock farms present as well. In 2016, 91.8% of the farms were classified as a grain farm; 1.6% were classified as a hog farm; 1.9% were classified as a dairy farm and 0.9 % were classified as a beef farm. There were 3.8% classified as other farm types. To be classified as a livestock farm of any type, the value of feed fed to the livestock enterprise must exceed 40% of the value of grain produced.
The Labor-Mgmt Income reported in this article is a value that can be thought of as a 'wage' when comparing incomes of the self-employed to those who are not self-employed. Consider that the components of net farm income include a return to the operators' 1) labor, 2) management skills, and 3) a return on the operators' investment. Reducing net farm income by the return on the operators' investment yields a number that approximates the return on the operators' labor and management.