Transcript The Decline of the Family Farm

Losing the Family Farm
Callie Rogers
Jordan Holmes
Ashley Bunch
Family Farm
Industrial Farm
What is a Family Farm
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2.4% of population
Family owns most of land
Majority of labor is from family
Open Market System
Typically managed within the family
The Facts
Losing the Farm
 Number of farms
decreasing while
acreage increasing
 Decline from 7 million
farms to 2 million over
70 years
 750, 000 farms lost
since 1981
 Translates to 1 million
lost jobs
Losing the Farm
 Rate of selfemployment in
agriculture
decreasing
Losing the Farm
 GNP rose 40 fold, Private Domestic
Product fell from 35% to 5.8%
 2 ½% of nations total farms account for
40% of crop market
 Farmers comprise 2% of work force
 21% of workforce in the 1930s
 Over half of family farms have an off farm
income
Why This is
Happening
Why the Trend?
 Financial Incentives
 Farm program
benefits favor larger
farms
 Tax Rules
 Lack of access to
markets
Why the Trend?
 Legislation
 1985 “Economic Emergency” Loans
 Due to farm debt crisis
 Loaned to big investors
 Many not collected
 1987 Proposal to cut Agricultural Spending
 1990 Farm Bill
 Raise land requirements for payment
Why the Trend?
 Unable to attract new investors
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Average age of farmer risen to 54
Initial costs around $200,000
Inflation of land price
Equipment costs
Costs on the Rise
Why the Trend?
 Industrialization
 Vertically Integrated
 Corporations involved in more than one step of
production
 Cargill, ConAgra
 Trend toward “bigness”
 Large field equipment used
 Large acreage
Why the Trend?
 Income offset by inflation
 Nominal net income growth is extremely low
when inflation is adjusted
 In 1983, nominal net income of farmers was
equal to that of the Great Depression
Effects of inflation
http://agecon.tamu.edu/faculty/capps/30
•In 1980 a farmer received $.37 of every consumer dollar spent on food
•Today a farmer receives $.20 of every consumer dollar spent on food
http://agecon.tamu.edu/faculty/capps/30
Why the Trend?
 New Generation
 Selling off of family farm
 Trend to move from rural area to city
Why the Trend?
 Family Farmer Mentality
 “Non-instinct for self preservation”
 Concentration on individual farms rather
than industry as a whole
 Tax concessions
The Importance of
the Family Farm
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Job Opportunities
 Large corporations create 9.44 jobs,
displace 27.97
 Productivity between large and small
farms comparable
 Possible Conservation opportunity
 Thought that family farmers might preserve
land for future generations
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Importance to Rural Communities
 Economic
 Buy supplies from local vendors
 Sell to local market
 Large number of communities depend on farming
 Majority of counties in Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota,
Nebraska and Kansas (277 counties) depend on
farming
 Decrease in farming has led to increased poverty
 Reduction in the middle class
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Importance to Rural Communities
 Social Conditions
 Better quality of life
 Decrease in crime
 Better education
 Stronger Emphasis on family
The Importance of the
Family Farm
Productivity of Large vs. Small Farms
“Small family farms are at least as efficient
as larger operations. In fact, there is
evidence of diseconomies of scale as
farm size increase.”
--Willis Peterson, University of Minnesota
analyst
The Importance of the
Family Farms
 Methods for Better
Productivity on Small
Farms
 Crop Diversification
 Border Cropping
 Major crop in fields
 Minor crop on borders
 Sequential
 Short duration crops
grown in between trees
 Crop Rotation
 Vary use of the land
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Methods used on
large farms
 Monoculture
 Same crop grown all
seasons
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Problems of monoculture systems
 Empty “niche” spaces
 Prone to weed infestation
 Prone to soil erosion
 Inefficient
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Productivity of Large vs. Small Farms
 Total Output vs. Yield
 Why the productivity of large and small farms are
comparable
 Yield per unit area of one crop greater in
large farms
 Total yield per unit area usually greater in
small farms
Yield Per Unit Area
terials%20to%20include/2002%20Understanding%20and%20managing%20corn%20yield%
Total Output
Median Farm
Size Category
(Acres)
Average Gross Output
($/Acre)
Average Net Output
($/Acre)
4
7424
1400
27
1050
139
58
552
82
82
396
60
116
322
53
158
299
55
198
269
53
238
274
56
359
270
54
694
249
51
1364
191
39
6709
63
12
Source: U.S. Agricultural Census, vol. 1, part 51, pp. 89-96, 1992.
The Importance of the
Family Farm
 Specialty Products
 Gives small farmers
advantage
 High quality produce
 Rare products
 Out of season
produce
Fenugreek
Elderberries
Dill
What is Being
Done?
What is Being Done?
 Need for Government support
 Direct payment amounts to half of net farm
income
 Enforce anti-trust laws to increase
competitiveness
 Increase of trade barriers
 Income safety nets
What is Being Done?
 National Family Farm Coalition
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Coalition of Rural Farmers
33 states
Work to preserve family farm
Proposal in 2001 to “restore and maintain
profitability on America’s family farms and
ranches” to congress
 National Farmer’s Union
What is Being Done?
 Efforts to increase productivity
 Better education
 30% of family farmers now have college
education
 Improved technology
 GPS (Global Positioning System)
Projections for the Future
 If current trends continue, America’s Family
Farms will vanish
 25% decrease over 13 years
 In order to reverse trends, government
action must be taken
 Without proper action, the agricultural
market will be dominated by a few large
corporate farms
Bibliography
Farm Web. ICRP Discussion Points: Family Farms vs. Hog Factories. 1997.
31 Mar. 2004 < http://www.farmweb.org/b/icrppoints.htm>.
Hassebrook, Chuck. “Saving the Family Farm; Family Farming is in the Public
Interest and if We are to Save it, We Must Act Now” Forum for Applied
Research and Policy. Sept. 1, 1999. W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 28 Mar.
2004
<www.wkkf.org/pubs/foodrur/saving_the_family_farm.pdf>.
Humphrey, Shirley and Eric Mussen. Small Farm Handbook. Oakland: U of
California, 1994.
Rosset, Peter M. “The Multiple Functions and Benefits of Small Farm
Agriculture” Global Trade Negotiations Sept. 1999. Food First. 31
Mar. 2004 <http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/policybs/pb4.html>.
Bibliography
Size, Structure, and the Changing Face of American Agriculture. Ed.
Arne Hallam. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993
Tweeten, Luther, et al. Structure of Agriculture and Information Needs
Regarding Small Farms. Washington: National Rural Center,
1980.
United States Department of Agriculture. A Time to Act. Jan. 1998. 31
Mar. 2004 < http://www.reeusda.gov/smallfarm/report.htm>.
University of Missouri Extension. Does the Family Farm Really Matter?
October 1993. 28 Mar. 2004
<www.muextension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/agecon/g008
20.htm>.