How is farm work measured between 1968 and 1976?

I am attempting to create a new variable representing the individual-level (ftype=2) poverty threshold which varies by year, conditional on year, sex, age, and farm status. While I can find the actual threshold for each combination of these variables by going to census webpage, I can’t apply them to microdata because the variable “farm” does not exist between 1968 and 1976. Is there some way to construct a “farm” variable for those years so that I can apply the individual-level poverty threshold to the microdata CPS extract?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to replicate the FARM variable for the ASEC samples between 1968 and 1976. One approach would be to use the variable INCFARM for householders and use the “$1000+ in farm sales” criteria used beginning in 1989 (since acreage is not available). However, this does not allow you to restrict to rural households. Ultimately, it is the researcher’s decision if such a constructed FARM variable is sufficient.

I hope this helps.

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I am interested in applying the “$1000+ in farm sales” criteria suggested in this thread to identify farm/rural households from 1968-1976 for when the FARM variable is not available. I have two questions around this:

  1. When doing so, should that criteria be inflation adjusted for those years? For example, the purchase power of $1,000 in 1989 is not the same as $1000 in 1969.
  2. Where can I find documentation for why that $1,000 threshold was selected? For example, are there details on how that value accounts for the lack of acreage data beginning in 1989 that makes it a good threshold?

Many thanks.

Whether to adjust this value for inflation is up to the individual researcher since definitions of farming households in the US have changed over time. The $1,000 in farm sales criteria used from 1989-onwards (and as early as the 1974 agricultural census) has not been adjusted for inflation. One option is to follow this example and apply the same threshold to the 1968-1976 sample. However, as this USDA extension piece notes, the fact that this definition has not been altered has affected what is considered a farm due to inflation. If you’re concerned about comparability over time regarding this threshold, you might consider adjusting the threshold for inflation for both your new variable and recoding FARM for the remaining sample. Comparing your results when adjusting for inflation or using a different threshold may also be helpful. You can use this IPUMS note on adjusting for inflation for your calculations.

The $1,000 threshold comes from the method the USDA uses to define farms. I am unsure exactly why the USDA has preferred this definition since 1974 compared with previous ones that included an acreage criteria.

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