I don't think the size of the farm or the number of cows is any indication of what is and what's not a hobby farm. A rich contractor bought out a pretty large farm for our area. He bought a couple of hundred registered black angus. In a couple of more years he's one of the largest Cattlemen in the state. He had several full time hands working the place. Big fall sale every year the whole works. Nice cattle and nice place. Construction business slowed way down and two years latter he sold the ranch. I didn't know the uy personally. Never heard a bad thing said about him but I'm not sure how much he really knew about cattle. I think it was just a hobby. A big, expensive hobby but still just a hobby. And a tax shelter.