By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
At a time when Americans are increasingly questioning where their food comes from, new USDA data reveals family farms still power most of U.S. agriculture, including in Kentucky.
A new analysis from Farm Flavor maps out the state of family-owned farms across the country using the latest USDA data. Researchers calculated the share of farms in each state that meet the USDA’s definition of a family farm — where most of the business is owned by the principal operator and their relatives — and examined the market value of agricultural products sold.
Some of the key results with data for Kentucky include:
• Family farms in Kentucky: Kentucky is home to 67,170 family-owned farms, which collectively generate $7,789,990,735 of the nation’s nearly $600B in total agricultural output each year.
• Family ownership dominates: 96.8 percent of all Kentucky farms are family-owned. That is the third largest share in the country, behind only West Virginia, with 97.6 percent and Tennessee at 97.5 percent. These operations are responsible for 88.1 percent of total farm sales in Kentucky.
• Small but numerous: Of the 1.8 million family farms in the U.S., about 1.6 million are small family operations earning less than $350,000 annually. The average family-owned farm generates about $269,000 in agricultural sales each year. In Kentucky, the average family-owned farm generates $115,974 in agricultural sales each year.
The data in this analysis comes from the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture (the most recent release). To identify the states with the most family-owned farms, researchers calculated the share of farms in each state that meet the USDA’s definition of a family farm, meaning much of the business is owned by the principal operator and individuals related to them by blood, marriage or adoption.
The analysis also compared agricultural output – measured as the market value of products sold – across different farm types, including small, midsize and large family operations as well as non-family farms. All dollar figures were inflation-adjusted to 2025 values using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.