The name is absent

labor, and livestock expenses per acre than does
the latter group (Table 4). These results suggest
that part-time farms tend to specialize in live-
stock production (beef cattle and hogs), while the
full-time farms allocate a relatively larger propor-
tion of land to crops.

To summarize, part-time and full-time farms
are significantly different. The two groups are
represented by factor-biased production func-
tions, and the productivity of capital, fertilizer,
and livestock expenses are significantly different
for these two groups. The allocative efficiency of
inputs also differs between these two groups.
The part-time farms make relatively more inten-
sive use of all inputs, except capital. The part-
time farms tend to put more emphasis on live-
stock (beef cattle and hogs). Similar findings
were also reported by Woodworth et al. in a
study conducted in central and western Tennes-
see. This probably is explained by the fact that a
certain amount of part-time farmer’s labor is
committed to off-farm employment and hence
cannot provide regular care needed for more
labor-intensive cropping and dairy operations.
Therefore, the rigidity of non-farm work re-
quirements may dictate the selection of farm en-
terprises that do not require large amounts of
labor and attention. Briefly, the results indicate
that part-time farmers are not more inefficient in
allocation of resources and production of food
than are full-time farmers in the same area.

SOME IMPLICATIONS OF OFF-FARM
WORK BY FARMERS

Carlin and Larson reported that increases in
income from wages and salaries has been the
most important factor accounting for the finan-
cial improvement of farm families. Off-farm in-
come has narrowed the income gap between farm
and non-farm families. While income from off-
farm employment is the major source of off-farm

TABLE 4. Mean Value of Output and Inputs
per Acre, Selected Farms in West Tennessee

income for farm families in each farm size group,
its absolute and relative importance is greatest
for those families with low to moderate farm
income. Accordingly, it is this group through
which off-farm employment exerts its greatest
impact on the structure of agriculture and rural
communities (Jones). Nevertheless, agricultural
policies are formulated without any distinction
between full-time and part-time farms. Neither
are there any regulations in force or measures
taken that are applicable to full-time or part-time
farms alone. The following are some implications
of off-farm work by farmers that may have some
bearing on the major policy issues in agriculture
and rural development.

Part-time farming may alter agricultural pro-
duction in a region. Many part-time farmers ar-
range their farming operation to fit in with their
off-farm employment. In 1974, operators of ani-
mal specialty farms, beef cattle, hogs, etc., and
fruit and tree nut farms reported working off-
farm more frequently than did farm operators of
other types of farms. A part-time operator may
have to specialize in one type of operation (e.g.,
beef cattle and hogs) and avoid enterprises such
as dairy and cotton, while the full-time operator
tends to be more diversified (Carlin and Ghelfi,
p. 273). Moreover, the production from part-time
farms is insignificant relative to feeding the
world, yet it is of sufficient size to affect prices in
local markets (Fuller and Mage, p. 161).

In principle, there is no distinction between
part-time and full-time farms in price support
programs. A problem could arise if a large per-
centage of production of many commodities is
controlled by people who have substantial in-
come from off-farm sources. This might reduce
the part-time farmer’s sensitivity to price
changes between products and lead to lack of
flexibility in their production patterns. It can be
argued then that the government’s ability to bring
about agricultural adjustments through prices, or
other monetary measures, would be reduced.
Part-time farming is affected by many other fac-
tors and to determine any definite relationship
between part-time farming and price supports re-
quires further investigation.

Part-time farmers are usually in a better posi-
tion to finance investments on the farm because
of regular cash incomes from off-farm jobs. For
example, many part-time farmers have the re-
sources to purchase and develop superior breed-
ing stock, which filters down to the commercial
operator (Fuller and Mage, p. 161). Part-time
farmers may be able to supply land for expanding
farmers. A trend can be observed in regions near
industrial centers, where part-time farmers are
more inclined to rent land to expanding full-time
farmers.

The phenomenon of part-time farming has im-
portant implications for economic and social
policies for rural areas. Through this system, a

<<   <   2   3   4   5   6   7   >   >>