Folloiwng are what I consider some very significant US Farm Statistics Total number of farms in US in 1992: 1,925,000 The largest 16,000 (0.8% of all US farms) accounted for 33% of all farm sales. The largest 47,000 (2.4 % of all US farms) accounted for 45.9% of all farm sales. The largest 126,000 (6.5% of all US farms) accounted for 62.5%of all farm sales. At the small end of the scale, the smallest 907,000 (47 47.1% of all US farms) accounted for 1.9% of all farm sales. Net farm income in 1993 was $43.6 billion. The US Department of Agriculture's budget that year was $63 Billion. It can be seen that from a social point of view, agriculture produced a net loss for society even before one takes account of the fact that agriculture has one of the highest rates of fatal occupational injuries (24 per 100,000 workers as compared with16 per 100,000 in construction) All figures from 'Statistical Abstract of the United States 1997" Does anyone know if there is a source that gives US combined state spending. What I have in mind here is if in addition to the $63 billion spent by the Federal Department of Agriculture one added total state spending governments it would all come to a pretty lofty sum. I would like to be able to determine what that sum is. Frank
