Farm typology

The USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has developed a farm typology, or farm classification, that divides the 2.1 million U.S. farms into 8 mutually exclusive and relatively homogeneous groups:
 * 1) limited resource farms
 * 2) retirement farms
 * 3) residential/lifestyle farms
 * 4) farming occupation/lower sales
 * 5) farming occupation/high sales
 * 6) large family farms
 * 7) very large family farms
 * 8) nonfamily farms.

Also, the eight categories can be collapsed into 3:
 * 1) rural residence farms
 * 2) intermediate farms
 * 3) commercial farms

Data for 2003 indicate that Commercial farms, those having sales of $250,000 or more annually, constitute 9% of all farms and account for 72% of production. Intermediate farms, constituting 24% of all farms, account for 19% of production. The largest number of farms, characterized as rural residence farms, constitute 68% of all farms and account for 8% of production.