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Farm Size (farm + size)
Selected AbstractsFarm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency,IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 1 2005R. K. Skaggs Abstract Relationships between farm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, New Mexico, USA are explored using 2001 water delivery data supplied by the irrigation district. The study area is experiencing rapid population growth, development, and competition for existing water supplies. It is conventionally assumed that in the future water will be transferred from agriculture to other uses. Analysis of pecan orchard water delivery data, fieldwork, and interviews with irrigators found extremely long irrigation durations, inefficient irrigation practices, inadequate on-farm infrastructure, and lack of interest in making improvements to the current irrigation system or methods on the smallest farms. These findings are attributed to the nature of residential/lifestyle or retirement agriculture. Irrigation practices on large, commercial orchards are notably different from the smallest farms: irrigation event durations are shorter, less water is applied, and the producers are commercially oriented. With respect to future increases in the efficiency of irrigation water usage, large, commercially oriented producers already have a high level of physical efficiency. Small producers appear to view irrigation as a consumptive, recreational, social, or lifestyle activity, rather than an income-generating pursuit, thus the cost of inducing changes in their practices may be extremely high. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Optimal farm size in an uncertain land market: the case of Kyrgyz RepublicAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2009Sara Savastano Option value theory; Farm size; Uncertainty; Irreversibility Abstract This article applies a real options model to the problem of land development. Making use of the 1998,2001 Kyrgyz Household Budget Survey, we show that when the hypothesis of decreasing return to scale holds, the relation between the threshold value of revenue per hectare and the amount of land cultivated is positive. In addition, the relation between the threshold and the amount of land owned is positive in the case of continuous supply of land and negative when there is discontinuous supply of land. The direct consequence is that, in the first case, smaller farms will be more willing to rent land and exercise the option where, in the second case, larger farms will exercise first. The results suggest three main conclusions: (i) the combination of uncertainty and irreversibility is an important factor in land development decisions, (ii) farmer behavior is consistent with the continuous profit maximization model, and (iii) farming unit revenue tends to be positively related to farm size, once uncertainty is properly accounted for. [source] The Distribution of Subsidized Agricultural Credit in Brazil: Do Interest Groups Matter?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2001Steven M. Helfand This article examines the unequal distribution of credit and credit subsidies in the Brazilian agricultural sector from 1969 to 1990. Total credit subsidies exceeded US$ 40 billion in this period. The distribution across crops is studied econometrically. After controlling for area, the crops that benefited most had superior access to credit institutions, were tradeable, had high prices, and were not perennials. Proxies for collective action by crop were an unimportant determinant of credit policy, while a bias in favour of large producers was evident. Alternative explanations for this bias are discussed, including collective action by farm size and transaction costs in lending. [source] External Transaction Costs and Large-scale Farming in Moscow Oblast Coûts de transaction externes et agriculture à grande échelle dans la région de Moscou Externe Transaktionskosten und landwirtschaftliche Großbetriebe in der Oblast MoskauEUROCHOICES, Issue 2 2010Nikolai SvetlovArticle first published online: 3 AUG 2010 Summary External Transaction Costs and Large-scale Farming in Moscow Oblast The article addresses the reasons for the domination of large-scale corporate farms in the Moscow oblast of Russia and concludes that high external transaction costs are likely to be an important determining factor. Over the nine year period studied, larger farms are shown to achieve higher performance. Increasing returns to scale, however, were not significant in explaining the superior performance of the larger farms. It is hypothesised that high external transaction costs due to lack of transparency in the milk market, typical of underdeveloped markets, give the larger farms a competitive advantage. Their search costs per unit of output are relatively low and they are able therefore to achieve higher farm-gate prices for milk as a result. The results confirm the dependence of the farm-gate milk price on farm size due to the presence of high transaction costs in the market of milk, the major output of the studied farms. The high performance farms were able to grow during the study period whereas the lower performing farms had limited growth capacity. A more competitive and transparent market environment along with improved infrastructure could lower transaction costs and entry barriers and provide opportunities for smaller scale corporate farms to compete more effectively. Cet article essaie d'expliquer les raisons de la domination des grandes exploitations agricoles constituées en société de la région de Moscou et conclut que l'ampleur des coûts de transaction externes est probablement un facteur explicatif important. Au cours de la période étudiée qui couvre neuf années, les exploitations les plus grandes ont enregistré les performances les plus élevées. Les rendements d'échelle croissants n'ont cependant pas expliqué de manière significative la meilleure performance de ces exploitations. Nous faisons l'hypothèse que les forts coûts de transaction externes liés au manque de transparence sur le marché laitier, typique des marchés incomplètement développés, donnent à ces plus grandes exploitations un avantage compétitif. Leur coût de recherche par unité de produit est relativement bas et elles sont donc capables d'obtenir des prix au niveau de la ferme plus élevés pour le lait. Les résultats confirment la dépendance des prix à la ferme envers la taille de l'exploitation du fait de la présence de coûts de transaction élevés sur le marché laitier, le lait étant le principal produit des exploitations étudiées. Les exploitations très performantes ont pu croître au cours de la période examinée tandis que les capacités de développement des exploitations les moins performantes étaient limitées. Un environnement de marché plus concurrentiel et transparent ainsi que de meilleures infrastructures pourraient réduire les coûts de transaction et les barrières à l'entrée dans le secteur, et fournir des opportunités aux exploitations constituées en société de plus petite taille d'être concurrentielles de manière plus efficace. Dieser Beitrag untersucht, weshalb es in der russischen Oblast Moskau hauptsächlich große Corporate Farms gibt, und kommt zu dem Schluss, dass dafür wahrscheinlich hohe externe Transaktionskosten ausschlaggebend sind. Über den neunjährigen Untersuchungszeitraum waren größere Betriebe erfolgreicher. Steigende Skalenerträge waren jedoch bei der Begründung für den höheren Erfolg der größeren Betriebe nicht maßgeblich. Es wird angenommen, dass hohe externe Transaktionskosten aufgrund von fehlender Transparenz auf dem Milchmarkt , typisch für unterentwickelte Märkte , den größeren Betrieben einen Wettbewerbsvorteil verschaffen. Ihre Suchkosten pro Produkteinheit sind relativ gering, daher sind sie in der Lage, höhere Preise für Milch ab Hof zu erzielen. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen die Abhängigkeit des Preises für Milch ab Hof von der Betriebsgröße, weil es auf dem Markt für Milch (dem wichtigsten Produkt der untersuchten Betriebe) hohe Transaktionskosten gibt. Den erfolgreichen Betrieben gelang es, über den Untersuchungszeitraum zu wachsen, während die leistungsschwächeren Betriebe nur eingeschränkt wachstumsfähig waren. Ein wettbewerbsfähigeres und transparenteres Marktumfeld in Kombination mit einer besseren Infrastruktur könnte die Transaktionskosten und Marktzugangsbeschränkungen senken sowie kleineren Corporate Farms Möglichkeiten eröffnen, um effektiver am Wettbewerb teilzunehmen. [source] Farm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency,IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 1 2005R. K. Skaggs Abstract Relationships between farm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, New Mexico, USA are explored using 2001 water delivery data supplied by the irrigation district. The study area is experiencing rapid population growth, development, and competition for existing water supplies. It is conventionally assumed that in the future water will be transferred from agriculture to other uses. Analysis of pecan orchard water delivery data, fieldwork, and interviews with irrigators found extremely long irrigation durations, inefficient irrigation practices, inadequate on-farm infrastructure, and lack of interest in making improvements to the current irrigation system or methods on the smallest farms. These findings are attributed to the nature of residential/lifestyle or retirement agriculture. Irrigation practices on large, commercial orchards are notably different from the smallest farms: irrigation event durations are shorter, less water is applied, and the producers are commercially oriented. With respect to future increases in the efficiency of irrigation water usage, large, commercially oriented producers already have a high level of physical efficiency. Small producers appear to view irrigation as a consumptive, recreational, social, or lifestyle activity, rather than an income-generating pursuit, thus the cost of inducing changes in their practices may be extremely high. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Redistributive Land Reform: No April Rose.JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 1-2 2004Cline, GKI on the Inverse Relationship, The Poverty of Berry At the theoretical heart of the Griffin, Khan and Ickowitz (GKI) case for redistributive land reform (,a many-splendoured thing') lies the highly influential study by Albert Berry and William Cline, Agrarian Structure and Productivity in Developing Countries, published for the ILO in 1979. That study is regarded by many as the definitive work on the inverse relationship between farm size and land productivity. This paper subjects Berry and Cline, and by extension GKI, to critical scrutiny with respect to their policy implications, theoretical framework and empirical evidence. It also provides an alternative class-theoretic approach to understanding the inverse relationship which undermines the use of the latter as the central rationale for redistributive land reform. If the approach of Berry and Cline can be shown to be theoretically, methodologically and empirically flawed, then perforce the argument and policy recommendations of GKI, who replicate that approach, can be shown to be fundamentally defective. [source] The Dynamics of Farm Incomes: Panel data analysis using the Farm Accounts SurveyJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2004Euan Phimister This paper uses longitudinal information from the Scottish Farm Accounts Survey to explore the dynamics of Scottish farm incomes between 1988/89 and 1999/2000. Both the Net Farm Income and Cash Income of farms are considered. The results show high levels of income variability and income mobility within Scottish agriculture. Although exit rates from the lowest income groups remain relatively high even when spells of low income have lasted a number of years, there is evidence of farms with persistent low farm income and farms experiencing repeated spells of low-income. Smaller farm size and having a farmer aged over 65 increase both the probability that a farm will fall into the lowest income group and the length of time spent in that income group. Further the results suggest that the impact of the post-1997 agricultural recession on income mobility depended on the income status of the farm when the recession began. [source] A discrete-time hazard analysis of the exit of burley tobacco growers in Tennessee, North Carolina, and VirginiaAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2010Kelly J. Tiller Burley tobacco; Exit; Discrete-time hazard logit; Federal tobacco program Abstract This article examines the exit and survival dynamics of burley tobacco growers in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia using a discrete-time hazard logit model. The study also predicts the effects of selected farm and family characteristics on exit hazards, assesses the proportionality of their effects over time and their relative importance in explaining the variation in exit hazards among burley tobacco growers. Results provide the longitudinal progression of the probability of exiting the tobacco industry since the end of the federal tobacco program in 2004, and identify off-farm participation, percentage of farm receipts from tobacco, tobacco price, educational level, and farm size as the most important determinants of the decision to exit the tobacco industry. Further, the effects of off-farm participation and farm size on the exit hazards of burley tobacco farms are proportional over time while the effects of the percentage of farm receipts from tobacco and tobacco price are time variant. [source] Optimal farm size in an uncertain land market: the case of Kyrgyz RepublicAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2009Sara Savastano Option value theory; Farm size; Uncertainty; Irreversibility Abstract This article applies a real options model to the problem of land development. Making use of the 1998,2001 Kyrgyz Household Budget Survey, we show that when the hypothesis of decreasing return to scale holds, the relation between the threshold value of revenue per hectare and the amount of land cultivated is positive. In addition, the relation between the threshold and the amount of land owned is positive in the case of continuous supply of land and negative when there is discontinuous supply of land. The direct consequence is that, in the first case, smaller farms will be more willing to rent land and exercise the option where, in the second case, larger farms will exercise first. The results suggest three main conclusions: (i) the combination of uncertainty and irreversibility is an important factor in land development decisions, (ii) farmer behavior is consistent with the continuous profit maximization model, and (iii) farming unit revenue tends to be positively related to farm size, once uncertainty is properly accounted for. [source] WATER QUALITY MODELING OF ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURAL SCENARIOS IN THE U.S. CORN BELT,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 3 2002Kellie B. Vaché ABSTRACT: Simulated water quality resulting from three alternative future land-use scenarios for two agricultural watersheds in central Iowa was compared to water quality under current and historic land use/land cover to explore both the potential water quality impact of perpetuating current trends and potential benefits of major changes in agricultural practices in the U.S. Corn Belt. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to evaluate the effect of management practices on surface water discharge and annual loads of sediment and nitrate in these watersheds. The agricultural practices comprising Scenario 1, which assumes perpetuation of current trends (conversion to conservation tillage, increase in farm size and land in production, use of currently-employed Best Management Practices (BMPs)) result in simulated increased export of nitrate and decreased export of sediment relative to the present. However, simulations indicate that the substantial changes in agricultural practices envisioned in Scenarios 2 and 3 (conversion to conservation tillage, strip intercropping, rotational grazing, conservation set-asides and greatly extended use of best management practices (BMPs) such as riparian buffers, engineered wetlands, grassed waterways, filter strips and field borders) could potentially reduce current loadings of sediment by 37 to 67 percent and nutrients by 54 to 75 percent. Results from the study indicate that major improvements in water quality in these agricultural watersheds could be achieved if such environmentally-targeted agricultural practices were employed. Traditional approaches to water quality improvement through application of traditional BMPs will result in little or no change in nutrient export and minor decreases in sediment export from Corn Belt watersheds. [source] Farmers' perception of treated paper mill effluent irrigationLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010P. N. Rekha Abstract The utilization of treated paper mill effluents for irrigation offers many benefits such as conservation of water resources, conversion of barren land into irrigated area, addition of nutrients to the soil and plant and above all the reduction of pollution of inland water bodies. However, the utility of this effluent irrigation programme depends mainly on farmers' acceptability, adoption and management of the scheme. Knowledge about the farmers' perception is thus very much imperative for further advocacy of the effluent irrigation programme. The determinants of farmers' perception of treated paper mill effluent irrigation is a pre-requisite for the formulation of better programmes and strategies for the support of an unobstructed adoption and for the long-term sustainability of effluent irrigation schemes. The present study was conducted to assess the farmers' perception and the determinants that influence the adoption of treated paper mill effluent irrigation by interviewing a random sample of 120 farmers, using a well-structured interview schedule in paper mill effluent irrigated area in Tamil Nadu in India. The study revealed that there exists positive significant correlation between the perception and the characteristics of the farmers viz. educational status, farm size, annual income, mass media exposure, innovativeness and risk orientation. The response analysis of the perception revealed that treated paper mill effluent as alternative assured supply of irrigation water, conversion of elevated dry lands to irrigated land, changing of cropping pattern to sugarcane, increase in socioeconomic status of the farmers, incentives and technical inputs by the paper mill authorities and above all farmers' participation in planning, implementation and management of the effluent irrigation schemes influenced the farmers to form positive perception. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Do family farms really converge to a uniform size?AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010The role of unobserved farm efficiency We analyse the growth of family farms in Israeli cooperative villages during a period of economic turmoil. We use instrumental variables to account for the endogeneity of initial farm size, and correct for selectivity as a result of farm survival. We also include a technical efficiency index, derived from the estimation of a stochastic frontier production model, as an explanatory variable. Our aim is to check whether ignoring efficiency could have been the reason for convergence results obtained elsewhere in the literature. We found that technical efficiency is an important determinant of farm growth, and that not controlling for technical efficiency could seriously bias the results. In particular, larger farms are found to grow faster over time, while without controlling for technical efficiency the farm growth process seemed to be independent of initial farm size. The increasing polarisation of farm sizes in Israel has ramifications for the inefficiencies induced by the historical quota system, for the political power of the farm sector and for the social stability of farm communities. [source] Factors That Affect the Adoption Decision of Conservation Tillage in the Prairie Region of CanadaCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2008Kelly A. Davey The adoption of conservation tillage technology since the 1970s has been one of the most remarkable changes in the production of crops on the Canadian Prairies. The decision whether to adopt conservation tillage technology or not requires the producer to go through a thorough decision-making process. In Canada, there has been little economic research on the question of what farm, regional, and environmental characteristics affect the adoption decision. Using 1991, 1996, and 2001 Census of Agriculture data together with other data sources we estimate a probit model explaining the adoption decision. We find that important variables include farm size, proximity to a research station, type of soil, and weather conditions. La pratique du semis direct depuis les années 1970 constitue l'un des changements les plus notables de la production des cultures dans les Prairies canadiennes. Avant de décider d'adopter ou non cette pratique, le producteur doit s'engager dans un processus rigoureux de prise de décisions. Au Canada, peu d'études économiques se sont penchées sur les caractéristiques agricoles, régionales et environnementales qui influencent la décision d'adopter ou non. Au moyen des données tirées du Recensement de l'agriculture de 1991, 1996 et 2001, combinées à d'autres sources de données, nous avons estimé un modèle probit pour expliquer la décision d'adopter ou non. Nous avons estimé que les variables importantes incluent la taille de l'exploitation, la proximité d'une station de recherche, le type de sol et les conditions météorologiques. [source] Farm Size Growth and Participation in Agri-environmental Schemes: A Configural Frequency Analysis of the Swiss CaseJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2005Stefan Mann Q15 Abstract This paper examines the relationship between farm growth and participation in agri-environmental schemes, using the example of meadow extensification schemes in Switzerland. As a result of small farm sizes in Swiss agriculture, theory would suggest that economies of scale are considerable for market production activities, so that for growing farms it would be rational to intensify. Configural frequency analysis is used to identify and describe combinations of farm size development and proportion of meadows placed under agri-environmental schemes. In the Swiss case, growing farms are likely to reduce their participation, whereas shrinking farms have a growing share of their meadows under extensification schemes. [source] Do family farms really converge to a uniform size?AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010The role of unobserved farm efficiency We analyse the growth of family farms in Israeli cooperative villages during a period of economic turmoil. We use instrumental variables to account for the endogeneity of initial farm size, and correct for selectivity as a result of farm survival. We also include a technical efficiency index, derived from the estimation of a stochastic frontier production model, as an explanatory variable. Our aim is to check whether ignoring efficiency could have been the reason for convergence results obtained elsewhere in the literature. We found that technical efficiency is an important determinant of farm growth, and that not controlling for technical efficiency could seriously bias the results. In particular, larger farms are found to grow faster over time, while without controlling for technical efficiency the farm growth process seemed to be independent of initial farm size. The increasing polarisation of farm sizes in Israel has ramifications for the inefficiencies induced by the historical quota system, for the political power of the farm sector and for the social stability of farm communities. [source] The Moral Economy of TobaccoAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 4 2009David Griffith ABSTRACT Even faced with overwhelming evidence that tobacco threatens human health, along with economic developments undermining their status as independent producers, North Carolina tobacco farmers view tobacco production in ways congruent with a moral economy. A shift from independent to contract production of tobacco and the dismantling of government price supports have challenged this moral economy, converting tobacco producers into a quasi,working class dependent on tobacco companies while leading to fewer tobacco farms and an increase in the average tobacco farm's size. These changes signal a shift away from a moral economy of tobacco, although moral-economic dimensions remain. Producers today emphasize different moral dimensions of economic behavior, such as producing quality human beings, than during earlier eras, when moral-economic actors pressed for state intervention in economic crises. Moral-economic principles are not restricted to either non-Western or historical peoples but, rather, influence economic production and ideology in advanced capitalist settings today. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||