Most farm households earn the majority of their income from off-farm sources and off-farm income is expected to increase by 3.0 percent in 2011, to 51,889. Note that off-farm sources include wages and salaries from off-farm jobs, other businesses, dividends and interest, and other public and private sources.
In contrast to the general farm household population, households associated with commercial farms (those with gross sales of $250,000 or more) derive the majority of their income from farming activities.
Note that the farm incomes vary greatly when taking into account farm size, which is also included in this USDA report.