Farm Structure and Infant Mortality: An Analysis of Nonmetropolitan Counties

Abstract

Community development practitioners long have been concerned with the effects of farm structure on community socioeconomic conditions. Most studies examining the impacts of farming have focused on economic outcomes, with little research directed toward noneconomic outcomes, such as health. This study examines the effects of three patterns of farm structure—smaller family, larger family and corporate/commercial farming—on a key indicator of health status, infant mortality. These farming patterns are hypothesized to affect infant mortality directly as well as indirectly, through effects on community socioeconomic status (income and education) and mortality-related factors (teenage fertility and per capita physicians). A model of the relationships is tested using path analysis and data for 840 nonmetropolitan counties. Counties with a greater extent of smaller family farming have significantly higher education, lower teenage fertility, and lower neonatal and infant mortality. Counties with a greater extent o...