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Abstract
According to the 2012 Census of
Agriculture, the number of farm
operations in the United States has
declined by more than 4.3 percent since
2007. This supports the common notion
that US farms are consolidating and
increasing in size. A key issue facing
the professional farm management
industry is how the changing structure
of US agriculture might impact future
demand for their services. This article
uses farm-level data from Illinois and
from various years of the US Census of
Agriculture to look at this issue more
closely, focusing on the services offered
by farm management associations. Farm
types or sizes which are more likely to be
members of a management association
are identified, and trends in the number
of these farm operations are examined
at regional and national scales. The
data suggests that the number of farms
across the US who are more likely to
,demand services from farm management
associations is likely increasing, but these
changes are highly regional in nature.