Limited Resource Farmers' Productivity: Some Evidence from Georgia

Abstract

has been more pronounced in the noncommercial and small commercial farm classes during this period. The decline is drastic even after considering the changes in the definition of a farm used by the Bureau of the Census and the Department of Agriculture. Large farms have shown an almost steady increase in numbers during this period (Carr). Even with the drastic decline in the number of small farms, they still account for a large proportion of the nation's total farms. According to the 1982 Census of Agriculture, about 76% of the nation's farms are small. The South, one of the regions with the largest number of small farms, has in excess of one million farms, and over 80% of these farms are defined as small. Georgia has approximately 49,627 farms; at least 67% of its total are small farms (Brown). Limited resource farmer (LRF) is a term used to describe the traditional small, part-time farmer throughout the United States. The term limited resource farmer apparently took its origin from the financial assistance program developed by the Farm Home Administration and approved by Congress in 1978 via the Agricultural Credit Act. However, the concept of limited resource farmer pertains to the lack of adequate inputs for the normal operation of the farm business. Additionally, the term limited resource farmer is sometimes used interchangeably with low-equity fa m, low-income farmer, small-scale farme , marginal farm, and small farm (Carlin and Crecink, Chidebelu, Tweeten). Previous studies by Saupe, Chidebelu, Tweeten (1982), Faust, Beauford, Williams, and Yeboah and Strickland address production, financing, and structure of agricultural issues applicable to the small farm issue. Recently, more concern has been directed to the survival issues of the limit d resource farmer, especially as it relates to structural changes that are occurring. Beauford alluded to the fact that a major difference exists between the income-generating strategies, patterns of household income, racial make-up, and geographic location of small farms compared to that of larger farmers. She concluded that, while differences exist between farm-income-dependent and nonfarm-income-dependent households, their economic well-being remains relatively the same. Limited resource farmers have been, and continue to be, important in terms of their numbers and the resources that they control. There are indications that beliefs about small farms could