Michigan Farm Numbers Remain Steady From 2008-2009

The estimated number of farms in Michigan in 2009 was 54,800, down slightly from 55,000 in 2008, reports the Michigan Field office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. 
Michigan land in farms was estimated to be 10 million acres in 2009, unchanged from the previous year.
The average size farm in Michigan in 2009 was 182 acres, also unchanged from 2008.
The number of farms in the United States in 2009 was estimated at 2.2 million, virtually unchanged from 2008.
Total land in farms, at 919.8 million acres, decreased 110,000 acres from 2008. Nationally, the average farm size was 418 acres in 2009, unchanged from the previous year.
For survey purposes, a farm is defined as any establishment from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold during the year. The $1,000 threshold can be met by any combination of sales and government payments.
Land in farms includes: crop and livestock acreage, wasteland, woodland, pasture, land in summer fallow, idle cropland, land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, and other set-aside or commodity acreage programs.