1997 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE HIGHLIGHTS OF AGRICULTURE: 1997 AND 1992 LAFAYETTE PARISH, LOUISIANA Item ALL FARMS 1997 1992 Farms .........................number.. 577 677 Land in farms ..................acres.. 87 880 87 574 Average size of farm .......acres.. 152 129 Value of land and buildings@1: Average per farm .........dollars.. 350 605 217 313 Average per acre .........dollars.. 2 954 1 899 Estimated market value of all machinery and equipment@1 Average per farm .........dollars.. 39 689 32 771 Farms by size: 1 to 9 acres ........................ 98 108 10 to 49 acres ...................... 262 316 50 to 179 acres ..................... 132 170 180 to 499 acres .................... 43 35 500 to 999 acres .................... 16 21 1,000 acres or more ................. 26 27 Total cropland .................farms.. 459 560 acres.. 74 063 75 676 Harvested cropland ...........farms.. 349 409 acres.. 52 037 53 304 Irrigated land .................farms.. 65 67 acres.. 11 473 9 848 Market value of agricultural products sold................$1,000.. 24 007 18 319 Average per farm .........dollars.. 41 606 27 059 Crops, including nursery and greenhouse crops............$1,000.. 21 290 15 438 Livestock, poultry, and their products....................$1,000.. 2 717 2 880 Farms by value of sales: Less than $2,500 .................... 286 327 $2,500 to $4,999 .................... 90 121 $5,000 to $9,999 .................... 63 71 $10,000 to $24,999 .................. 60 74 $25,000 to $49,999 .................. 17 22 $50,000 to $99,999 .................. 25 19 $100,000 or more .................... 36 43 Total farm production expenses.$1,000.. 14 223 14 040 Average per farm .........dollars.. 24 694 20 738 Operators by principal occupation: Farming ............................. 233 313 Other ............................... 344 364 Operators by days worked off farm: Any ................................. 323 339 200 days or more ................... 191 221 Livestock and poultry: Cattle and calves inventory...farms.. 369 441 number.. 12 705 11 542 Beef cows ..................farms.. 341 404 number.. 7 706 6 449 Milk cows ..................farms.. 11 27 number.. 65 402 Cattle and calves sold .......farms.. 336 373 number.. 5 759 4 905 Hogs and pigs inventory ......farms.. 19 20 number.. 104 289 Hogs and pigs sold ...........farms.. 8 9 number.. 59 226 Sheep and lambs inventory ....farms.. 31 35 number.. 503 718 Layers and pullets 13 weeks old and older inventory.............farms.. 29 59 number.. 891 1 599 Broilers and other meat-type chickens sold...............farms.. 0 0 number.. 0 0 Selected crops harvested: Sorghum for grain or seed.....farms.. 1 19 acres.. (D) 3 735 bushels.. (D) 267 483 Wheat for grain ..............farms.. 9 16 acres.. 2 156 3 639 bushels.. 88 181 166 486 Rice..........................farms.. 42 43 acres.. 10 534 9 549 cwt.. 492 160 443 393 Cotton .......................farms.. 0 0 acres.. 0 0 bales.. 0 0 Soybeans for beans ...........farms.. 53 81 acres.. 16 136 21 470 bushels.. 491 476 620 199 Sugarcane for sugar...........farms.. 25 24 acres.. 13 777 8 951 tons.. 397 534 248 558 Hay-alf, other, wild, silage..farms.. 247 258 acres.. 7 988 5 886 tons, dry.. 15 894 13 238 @1Data are based on a sample of farms. Legend: (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms (X) Not applicable (Z) Less than half the unit shown (NA) Not available Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1 Geographic Area Series, "Table 1. County Summary Highlights: 1997." This electronic series presents summary statistics for each county and State together with comparable data from the 1992 census. The items included are the same for all States and counties, except selected crops harvested, which vary by State. Data for 1997 and 1992 are directly comparable for acreage and inventories. Dollar values have not been adjusted for changes in price levels. You can obtain the Volume 1 Geographic Area Series from the National Technical Information Service. If you have any questions concerning the data in this report or need additional information or order forms for agriculture publications, please call the National Agricultural Statistics Service at 1-800-523-3215 or 1-800-727-9540.