76 animal, vegetable, miracle
in our farmhouse, we were able to purchase it from a friend’s woodlot
nearby. No farmer earns a whole livelihood from this, but the family farm
has a tradition of cobbling together solvency from many crops.
Experimental programs like these, though new and small, are notable
for the way they turn a certain economic paradigm on its head. U.S. po-
Is Bigger Really Better?
Which are more economically productive, small family farms or big industrial
farms? Most people assume they know the answer, and make a corollary as-
sumption: that small farmers are basically asking to go bankrupt, they’re ineffi -
cient even though their operations are probably more environmentally
responsible, sustainable, diverse, and better connected to their communities
than the big farms are. But isn’t it really just about the profi ts?
If so, small farms win on that score too, hands down. According to USDA
records from the 1990s, farms less than four acres in size had an average net
income of $1,400 per acre. The per- acre profit declines steadily as farm size
grows, to less than $40 an acre for farms above a thousand acres. Smaller
farms maximize productivity in three ways: by using each square foot of land
more intensively, by growing a more diverse selection of products suitable to lo-
cal food preferences, and by selling more directly to consumers, reaping more of
the net earnings. Small- farm profits are more likely to be sustained over time,
too, since these farmers tend to be better stewards of the land, using fewer
chemical inputs, causing less soil erosion, maintaining more wildlife habitat.
If smaller is economically better, why are the little guys going out of busi-
ness? Aside from their being more labor- intensive, marketing is the main prob-
lem. Supermarkets prefer not to bother with boxes of vegetables if they can buy
truckloads. Small operators have to be both grower and marketer, selling their
products one bushel at a time. They’re doing everything right, they just need
customers.
Food preference surveys show that a majority of food shoppers are willing to
pay more for food grown locally on small family farms. The next step, following
up that preference with real buying habits, could make or break the American
tradition of farming. For more information, visit http://www.nffc.net.STEVEN L. HOPP