A new review of USDA data from Investigate Midwest shows that the vast majority of farms in the U.S. are not producing most of our meat and dairy.
Large family farms — ones bringing in more than $1 million a year — produce most of the cattle and hogs in the country, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
This article is republished from The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Read the original article here.
A majority of farms in the U.S. are considered small, or having an annual income less than $250,000. But the large-sized farms tend to produce much more.
With beef, the large-scale family farms are more likely to operate feed lots, which concentrate a large number of animals into a relatively small space, according to the USDA.
But it’s a different story for poultry.
About half of the country’s poultry output comes from small family farms. These farms typically contract with large chicken processing companies to raise birds to maturity.
*Scroll over the bars to see the percentages*
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