The relative financial performance of African American farms in the United States since the Great Recession

Abstract

Using data from the 2009–2020 Agricultural Resource Management Surveys, we compare the financial position and performance of African American farms to that of other U.S. farms. The results suggest that, relative to others, the average African American farm has lower total value of production, net cash farm income, government payments, assets, and debts. We obtained mixed results regarding financial performance, with African American farms having lower profitability, liquidity, and efficiency than others but higher solvency. To our knowledge, this study is the first to provide a contemporary overview of the status of African American farms using detailed, farm‐level financial data.

A comparison of operator and financial characteristics of U.S. beef cow‐calf producers by race

“…To our knowledge, no prior academic research exists comparing detailed financial characteristics of beef cow-calf farms operated by African American and Native American farmers to those operated by White American farmers. Collins et al (2024) used descriptive analyses to compare the financial performance of African American farms to that of all other farms in the USA, but given its aim in providing an overview, it did not include analyses specific to Native American farmers nor analyses of specific commodity groups. Previous studies examining beef cow-calf farms have focused on characteristics and production costs of U.S. cow-calf farms (Short, 2001) and the diverse structure and organization of the U.S. beef cow-calf industry (Gillespie et al, 2023;McBride & Mathews, 2011).…”

An analysis of tax benefits by race and ethnicity for farm households

“…African American operated farms, in particular, had the highest likelihood of being classified as intermediate which means that the principal operator's primary occupation is farming, and the farm has gross cash farm income less than $350,000 (Whitt et al, 2023). Additionally, African American farms were found to have significantly lower net farm income compared to White, non‐Hispanic farms (Collins et al, 2023). Native American, Hispanic, and African American operated farms were most likely to specialize in cattle production while Asian operated farms are also more likely than others to produce specialty crops (Whitt et al, 2023).…”