The Future of Farm Policy Analysis: A Household Perspective

Offutt, Susan E.

doi:10.1111/1467-8276.00380

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Within the geographically variable and situation-specific pattern of restructuring suggested here, large numbers of farming families continue to occupy their holdings but the links between occupancy of holdings and management control of the land become ever more indirect and complex over time. Slow progress in updating what Offutt (2003) calls the empirical agenda of rural policy to reflect more accurately these trends and the farm structures which result, means that it may be some time yet before the 'historical constructions of understanding' which have traditionally governed debate about agricultural restructuring in the EU are opened up for genuine public debate. Note 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ironically, conventional measures of farming income work against the status quo here by exaggerating the influence of direct payments over production decisions and, thus, the degree of market distortion that will result. Taking account of household influences would suggest a much more complicated linkage between receipt of farm payments and the decisions farmers actually make about capital investment, crop selection and intensity of management (Offutt, 2003).…”

Section: Competing Constructions Of Vulnerability and Survivabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural restructuring and state assistance: competing or complementary rural policy paradigms?

Potter

Lobley

2004

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning

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The restructuring of European agriculture as a policy project has a long and complicated history. Since the late 1950s, policy makers have adopted a number of sometimes contradictory positions on this issue, a 'developmental' policy stance dedicated to assisting agricultural restructuring gradually giving way to, but never being entirely eclipsed by, a paradigmatic notion of state assistance designed actually to keep farmers on the land. This paper traces the nature of this policy evolution and explores the ways in which public policy has been empirically informed by a construction of farmers and farm households as both passive victims of an externally driven restructuring process and active seizers of opportunities for diversification and further restructuring. Commenting on the increasing ambiguity of the European policy stance and its differential presentation to international and domestic audiences, the paper focuses on the UK as a member state with one of the most robust, neo-liberal postures on agricultural restructuring. It reviews recent empirical studies of the restructuring process and concludes that while there is little evidence to suggest that UK agriculture is yet on the brink of significant structural change, a steady diversification of the income base of many farm households is leading to the emergence of a community of land managers that is more diverse and decoupled from agricultural policy support than ever before. The paper concludes by reflecting on the implications of these trends for policy design and the concept of state assistance in a period of agricultural change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Competing Constructions Of Vulnerability and Survivabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural restructuring and state assistance: competing or complementary rural policy paradigms?

Potter

Lobley

2004

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning

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“…As Offutt (2002) points out, since farm households are demonstrably diverse, analysts would seem obliged to investigate hypotheses about differential response and impact. One of these differences concerns demographic variables: family contexts are particularly favorable to set up a farm venture (Jervell 2011): an abundant economic literature has emphasised the strict connection between farm household strategies and style of farming (among others, Whatmore, 1994), by demonstrating the persistency of family farms (Sabbatini 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family farm business and access to rural development polices: a demographic perspective

Bartoli

Rosa

2013

Agric Econ

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This article aims to show the ability of family farms in obtaining funds from rural development policies. Under the hypothesis that family farms' characteristics influence their access to policies, the perspective of analysis is demographic. In the paper two demographic viewpoints are investigated, to emphasize the role of the family composition in fostering strategic farms' decisions: the localization in the life cycle and the presence of assistants. The empirical test is provided for an Italian region: the funds of rural policies gained by family farms are examined, divided up into the three main strategic axes of the rural development plan. The results of the analysis highlight some interesting differences between the two demographic perspectives; the presence of assistants influences a farm's strategic process and increases the access to rural policies. This induces normative consequences in terms of the possible articulation of policies aimed at sustaining family farms.

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“…In an effort to supplement their income, many farmers resort to off-farm employment during periods of underutilized labor in the summer and winter. Nationally, about 55% of farm operators and nearly 50% of farm operator spouses now hold off-farm jobs (Offutt, 2002). Alternatively, farm producers could enhance their agronomic, economic and environmental sustainability by utilizing these periods of underutilized labor for production of supplemental crop enterprises (Dagliotti et al, 2005;Cittadini et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%