'the county gained 34 farms with sales over $1000.

'the county gained 34 farms with sales over $1000.

The drop in number of nonproductive farms in Rappahannock County coincides with a national trend. The preliminary report states that for several years there has been a large, but decreasing, number of farms which donotproduce a significant quantity of agricultural products for sale. Nationwide, about 571,000 farms in 1969 reported sales of less than $1,000. TTiese farms comprised 20.9 percent of the total farms but only one half of one percent of the total sales. By 1974 many of these farms had either increased to above $1,000 in sales or dropped out of existence.

The average size of a farm in Rappahannock dropped during the five year period from 319 acres in 1969 to 280 acres in 1974. A farm is defined for census purposes as an agricultural operation conducted at any time during the census year under the control of an individual management, with sales amounting to at least $250 for places less than 10 acres or $500 for places of ten acres or more.

In 1974, there were six farms under ten acres, 56 farms between ten to 49 acres, 107 farms between 50 and 179 acres, and 61 farms between 180 and 499 acres. There were only 22 farms of between 500 and 999 acres, nine farms of between 1,000 and 1,999 acres and five farms with 2,000 acres or more.

THE .value of agricultural products sold increased 40 percent from $2,477,000 in 1969 to $3,473,000 in 1974. Farm production expenses increased 36 percent over the same period from $2,333,000 in ‘69 to $3,183,000 in ‘74.

The total value of farms in the county increased 79 percent from $26,735,000 to $47,949,000. A major portion of the increase can be attributed to the increased value of the land used in farming. The average value per acre of farm land jumped from $304 in 1969 to $645 in 1974, an increase of 112 percent.

The average age of Rappahan