At $2.2 million per farm, equity positions reached a new pinnacle for U.S. dairy farmers in 2016. Calculated by USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey, the data was published late last December.

That $2.2 million figure was up $176,000 from the prior year for a growth rate of 8.5 percent when compared to the 2015 total of $2.06 million. Just five years earlier, dairy farm equity totaled $1.7 billion. Of course a farm’s equity position is the number after totaling the farm’s assets and then subtracting liabilities.

Building and land anchor
When looking specifically at assets, those totaled $2.7 million compared to liabilities of $500,000 for the average U.S. dairy.

Land and buildings accounted for the lion’s share of value at 65 percent or $1.8 million. Dairy cows and heifers came next at $372,000 or 13.6 percent of the total. Farm equipment was ranked third at $274,000 or 10 percent followed by the farm home at $114,000 or 4 percent of the total.