The USDA Census of Agriculture is undertaken every five years. The Census of Agriculture is the only county-level, complete survey of all actual sales revenues generated by each crop and livestock enterprise present in each county, as well as valuable demographic and sales-class data. It is a “snapshot” dataset that can be compared to previous surveys and also to the USDA annual individual crop and livestock surveys, such as the annual reporting on production of the primary crops for each county in Illinois . In addition to the USDA Census of Agriculture, the research firm Decision Innovations Solutions recently completed a study of the economic impact of agricultural activity in Illinois, at the county level. Sources for the above figures and estimates can be found at the end of this report. STATISTICS PRESENT-DAY AGRICULTURE IN KANKAKEE, FORD, AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES Financial characteristics of a typical family farm: A typical family farm in this area manages 1,000-1,200 acres of tillable Illinois farmland. In the three county area, there are: 2,344 farms comprising 1.3 million acres or 2,126 square miles 2,834 farmer operators, of which 1,565 (55%) list farming as their primary occupation 8% of farmer operators are women In Illinois, 99% of all farms are operated by a single family or by closely-related family members (Source: USDA Economic Research Service 2017) The agricultural data on these pages come from the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture data available. 8