From the abstract: Commentary by Sarah Taber here. The claim is that they're often tax shelters.
From the abstract:
While researchers have extensively studied the growth in the number of small farms reported in the Census of Agriculture between 1982 and 2012, there has been little discussion of trends in farm operators who do not sell any agricultural products. Using previously unreleased Census of Agriculture data collected between 1982 and 2012, this research brief empirically examines these “zero-sales farmers” for the first time. There was a large increase in the number of zero-sales farmers from 104,000 in 1982 to 466,000 in 2012, as well as a remarkable rise in their share of the farming population, which went from 5% in 1982 to 22% in 2012. Female and minority farmers were disproportionately likely to be zero-sales operators: 30% or more of female, Native American, and black farmers reported no sales in 2012. Older and beginning farmers were also more likely to report zero sales in 2012 than younger and experienced ones, respectively.
Commentary by Sarah Taber here. The claim is that they're often tax shelters.
From the abstract:
Commentary by Sarah Taber here. The claim is that they're often tax shelters.