Recent Structural Change in the U.S. Farm Sector: A Household Income Equivalency Perspective

Structural change in the U.S. farm sector remains a source of continuing national interest. This interest has been heightened recently by concern over vertical integration and the passage of a new farm bill. Structural change is commonly examined in terms of the scale of the farm, such as the dollar value of sales or the number of acres farmed. However, to many farmers and non-farmers, structural change is not about physical or financial scale, but about the ability of the farm to provide an acceptable standard of living relative to other Americans. In this article, we use a household income equivalency perspective to examine recent changes in farm structure. The picture which emerges differs from the conventionally accepted story in several respects