Measuring the success of Finnish family farms

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this article is to discuss the indicators used to evaluate success and to describe the success of Finnish family farms by using subjective and objective measurements of success. We used bookkeeping information and survey data from 296 Finnish farms. We found that the perceived success of farmers has five dimensions: Quality awareness; Family farm lifestyle; Managing farm investments; Operational success; and Economic result. The correlations between subjective success factor scores and variables describing size and financial outcome of the farms were generally low. Our results support the need to use both objective and subjective success indicators to understand the success of family farms. The acceptable level of perceived success on several dimensions may partly explain the reasons for continuing agricultural production despite its objectively measured quite low profitability. The results indicate that farmers' subjective interpretation of the opportunities provided by the environment as well as their individual motivation-related factors largely determine how they expect to perform in farming.