Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture

13. Survival Strategies for Small Farms

177 Survival Strategies for Small Farms Over the past several decades, U.S. farms have grown larger in size and fewer in number. Farmers have substituted capital and off-farm technology for labor and management, making it possible for each farmer to farm more acres—utilizing more hired labor, equipment, and facilities—thus leading to fewer farmers and larger farms. Today, the large farms that have survived consolidation thus far are increasingly coming under the control of gigantic multinational agribusiness corporations, through comprehensive contractual arrangements, thus continuing the trend toward fewer and larger farming operations. Fordecades,farmershavebeentoldthattheywillhavetoeither get bigger or get out of farming—that small family farms were “a thing of the past.” Virtually all government farm programs, including federal loan programs, have unwittingly supported this trend toward fewer and larger farms in their preoccupation with helping farmers increase their productivity. The few government programs targeted specifically to small farms, such as small farm loans, beginning farmers, direct marketing, and 1890 land-grant extension programs, are considered by many as doing little more than prolonging the agony of a dying way of life. Understandably, it may be hard for those who work with farmers to get very enthusiastic about promoting a way of farming that is supposedly doomed to extinction. But many small family farms have survived, and at times have even prospered . Somehow, small farmers have found ways to survive and succeed, in spite of the misguided government programs and outdated public perceptions that have created obstacles to their survival and success. 13 178 New American Farmer Large industrial farming operations have succeeded, at least in part, because they have been the recipients of huge government subsidies, not only through direct government payments but also through government subsidies for farm credit, public research and extension services, and export promotion. The traditional mid-sized, full-time family farm has been pushed to the brink of extinction in America because they have neither the political clout of the large agribusiness enterprises nor the resilience, resistance, or regenerative capacities of small farms. While undoubtedly well intentioned, government farm programs have been major contributors to the demise of full-time family farms. Small farms, on the other hand, have succeeded in the past and can continue to succeed in the future, even without a “level playing field” in terms of government programs or public understanding . But the odds of success for any individual farmer could be considerably enhanced if current misperceptions concerning the imminent demise of small farms were replaced with the new realities of small farm opportunities. Outdated perceptions concerning small farms are deeply rooted in the institutional culture of usda, the land-grant universities , and other public agencies, as well as in the minds of the general public. In addition, powerful economic and political interests oppose any change in the public agenda that would better serve the needs of those currently without economic or political power, which includes those on small farms. These groups work hard to reinforce the current misperceptions in order to protect their own special interests—to keep their place at the public trough. Only when these outdated perceptions are forced to confront today’s realities will the full measure of opportunities for small farms be realized. One such outdated perception is that small farms are not a significant part of agriculture. Agricultural programs for the past several decades have been driven by concerns for production rather than people. The underlying assumption was that Survival Strategies 179 the public would benefit most by focusing on improving the efficiency of farming, ultimately bringing down the cost of food and fiber to consumers. This focus on efficiency has been the root source of the trend toward larger, more specialized farming operations. As large farms accounted for an increasing share of total production, the remaining small farmers had a diminishing impact on overall food supplies and prices, and thus became less important to the agricultural institutions. Today, usda and the land-grant universities are promoting high-tech and biotech production methods for the same reason: cheap food for consumers. The natural environment is viewed as a constraint, not an asset, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether there will be any farmers left in this country in a decade or two, or whether rural communities survive or die. They see their public mandate as ensuring that agriculture is as efficient as...