One unique quality of farmers and ranchers is they work together as a family. Taking care of livestock and crops requires everyone in the family — even small children doing chores like feeding bucket calves, collecting eggs and feeding chickens — to be a part of the work.
However, the increasing pressure to go big or get out makes it difficult for families to farm together. A spouse may have a job “in town” to help make ends meet, afford health insurance and keep the farm operating in the black. I know of one family farm that, in 1974, had 17 family members able to make a living on the farm and now there are only two.
Yet, it has been the small family farms that knit our nation together through the centuries. When America was first founded, 98 percent of the population was involved in farming and ranching and only 2 percent were not. However, since America’s beginnings, those numbers have reversed so now only 2 percent of our population is involved in farming and ranching.
According to the USDA, a small family farm is one that makes less than $350,000 in gross income a year.
Small family farms have slowly diminished over time like small mom-and-pop businesses who get swallowed up by megastores who offer more selection, sometimes cheaper prices and more convenience. Consolidation is the name of the game in our culture as larger entities acquire smaller ones, making it difficult for smaller businesses, schools, hospitals and farms to exist.
Thankfully, those in positions of influence like United States Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack understand the important roles small family farms play and are making efforts to support them. At the National FFA Convention, Sec. Vilsack emphasized the importance of ensuring that farms of all sizes have the opportunity to succeed. He said it starts by transforming our agriculture system to one that lifts up small and midsized farms, strengthens local rural economies and enhances our food security and safety to create value and opportunity for all producers and communities.
Data shows agricultural production must increase by 75 percent to feed the world’s population of 9 billion people by 2050. This means there have been great strides in large-scale production with technology and science, but there has also been a parallel emphasis being placed on small-scale farms. In the U.S., we refer to them as small family farms, but internationally there is another term – smallholders.
A smallholder farm is defined by a metric measurement of two to five hectares. A hectare is roughly two acres, so you’re talking about a four- to 10-acresfarm, which constitutes, in the United States, a “hobby farm.”
Currently, there are more than 580 million smallholder farms worldwide, which account for roughly 30 percent of agricultural production.
Small family farms can create a local supply chain, are excellent profit centers as well as resilience mechanisms in case of a threat to the larger supply chain, which we witnessed in the recent pandemic.
It’s important to approach agricultural production with a both/and rather than an either/or mentality. We need both large-scale agriculture (often referred to as “big ag”) as well as small scale (often referred to as “small ag”).
Robert Malthus was an 18th century economist known for the Theory of Population, which was the idea of exponential population and arithmetic food supply growth. He predicted that one day the population growth would exceed our ability to feed everyone. Therefore, with the world population growing at a faster rate than ever before, it is important that both large and small agricultural businesses are necessary to feed the world.
Rest assured, efforts are currently being made to support a both/and approach. We encourage you to keep shopping at the big box stores because our global food supply is critical to feeding the world. We also encourage you to support your local farms and ranches who sell directly to consumers because they, too, are critical to feeding the world.
You can find one near you by going to our website, www.shopkansasfarms. com.
