More Americans take to life down on the farm

In spite of media stories about urban encroachment on farmland, actual count in 1981 showed the number of US farms increased for the first time in 45 years, according to the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. A growing number of small farms--in the $10,000 range--and some in the very large category swelled the 1981 count by an added 8,000 to a nationwide total of 2,436,000.