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27 <br /> 1 Slide #5 <br /> Economics of Agriculture <br /> Challenges <br /> Average net income of <br /> Orange County farmer in 2022; <br /> -$2,213' <br /> —40% of farms had <br /> <$2,500 in sales' Farming main source <br /> of income for only <br /> 30% of farmers' 3 <br /> ;Us 2M.usn Paan,o;roi.+er,Ow M.wawem p+�,nu.d srafi:nom iavx..toss u,rm eoouua aaa,m.a si�saKs.nawae a <br /> Woos:uwwwnccs.usaaa•soiuncs_dW sioen+urirca.i.-a„• „_ .__ _ „_i o::• <br /> 2 'roror,ae aC—P, eovasnay.zoa <br /> we counry wrvev.mss <br /> 3 Commissioner McKee said that the information shared in slide #5 is what leads to loss of <br /> 4 farms and farmland. <br /> 5 Chair Bedford said she did not understand how they can be called a farm and have less <br /> 6 than $2,500 in sales. <br /> 7 Jane Saiers said it varies. She said that there are farms of all sizes and shapes. She said <br /> 8 that it is not always about commodity farms. She said that most farmers have second incomes. <br /> 9 Chair Bedford asked if these farms are also considered wedding venues. <br /> 10 Jane Saiers said these are USDA census data and wedding venues could be included as <br /> 11 agritourism. <br /> 12 Mike Ortosky, an Extension Agent with Cooperative Extension, said that present use <br /> 13 valuation and then responses by the farmers to any USDA question gets included in this. <br /> 14 Commissioner McKee said "farm" and "farmer" is a nebulous term. He said that a person <br /> 15 raising an acre of strawberries is a farmer and so is someone farming 200 acres of soybeans. He <br /> 16 said it all depends on how the definition is used. He said it cannot be defined by size or income. <br /> 17 He said that some small farms do extremely well. <br /> 18 Chair Bedford said a timber farm might not have sales except every 10 years. <br /> 19 Mike Ortosky said they have a full-time farmer, and they will grow $4,000 on two acres. <br /> 20 He said this is a fulltime job but there are not that many examples. He said it is a way of life, not <br /> 21 just a job. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 <br />