Abstract
In this paper we develop a typology of ‘non-commercial’ approaches to farming, based on a survey of a representative sample of farmers in Scotland, United Kingdom. In total, 395 (16.6% of the sample) farmers indicated that they do not seek to make a profit on their farms. We estimate that these non-commercial approaches to farming are utilised on at least 13% of agricultural land in Scotland. As such, non-commercial farming (NCF) is not a marginal practice, nor are NCF limited to small-scale ‘hobby’ farms: NCF exist across the scale of agricultural holding sizes and are operated by a wide range of socio-demographic cohorts. We identify 6 types of NCF: agricultural residences, specialist smallholdings, horsiculture holdings, mixed smallholdings, amenity mixed farms, and large farms or estates. These types were differentiated primarily by the scale of farm size, presence of diversification activities and types of animal present. The analysis demonstrates a number of emergent patterns of land management: de facto land abandonment, transition towards ‘horsiculture’, and management differences between retiring and new entrant NCF. We argue that the types identified reflect a number of intersecting issues in contemporary agrarian transitions, particularly the aging farmer population; generational renewal; and gendered implications of agricultural restructuring.
Highlights
The personal and social appeal of farming activities in the global West has been widely accepted in rural studies since Gasson’s (1973) seminal paper, in which she outlined the multiple motives for farming as an occupation
395 non-commercial farming (NCF) were identified in the data set (i.e. 16.6% of the sample that was surveyed, see Table 2)
Comparing responses to those of self-identification as a farmer, the results show that 18% of the NCF consider themselves to be full time farmers
Summary
The personal and social appeal of farming activities in the global West has been widely accepted in rural studies since Gasson’s (1973) seminal paper, in which she outlined the multiple motives for farming as an occupation. These included instrumental, social, expressive and intrinsic aspects of farming activities and management. Through this research, Munton et al (1989) identified varied forms of part-time farming, including survival, capital accumulation and hobby farming approaches.
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