America's family run farms aren't dead. Nor are the nation's small farms. Actually, both are growing.
That's the surprising news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which points out that America had more farms operating in 1999 than the previous year. There were 2.19 million farms last year, an increase of 2,710 from 1998.The growth was fueled by the smallest of the nation's farms, those with sales under $10,000. The number of mid-sized farms (sales between $10,000 and $99,999) and large farms ($100,000 or more) both declined from 1998.
"It's a pleasant change, to find there are more people getting into farming than getting out of it," said Alex Montes, who grows a mix of seasonal vegetables on a 12-acre parcel west of Manteca, Calif.
"I think the combination of farmers markets and people's willingness to pay a little more for food right from the farm is rejuvenating small farms," he added.
The government, often criticized for making farming a more difficult endeavor, actually deserves some of the credit for the resurgence in small farms.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman made small farms a priority issue for his department in 1996, sparking a flurry of programs, research projects and Web sites focusing on that long-ignored segment of agriculture.
"The new prevailing wisdom is that the only hope for small farms is to create a marketing opportunity by differentiating your product," said Hilmar, Calif., almond grower Glen Anderson, who produces organic almonds in his two 20-acre orchards. "The expression I'm hearing is 'distinct or extinct.' "
A growth in the smaller operations, which were disappearing at a rapid pace earlier in the 1990s, is the apparent reward for the USDA's commitment.
Large farms still dominate agriculture -- operations earning $100,000 or more make up only 15.9 percent of all farms but possess 55.5 percent of the farmland -- and that will never change.
The economies of scale will always put larger farmers in positions of power. It is typically more cost-efficient, for example, for a grower to plant 500 acres of fresh-market tomatoes than 15 acres.
Arranging for the tractor, plants and labor is the most expensive part of the planting equation. Once they're at the site, the cost per acre shrinks with each additional acre planted.
That's a fundamental law of business, one small farmers recognize. What bothered smaller growers was the USDA kowtowing to larger operators, particularly in the form of crop subsidy payments and research projects that seemed to benefit the mega-farms.
"Their slow acceptance of organics and sustainable agriculture, both led by small farms, showed me where the government's priorities were," said Gerald Young, who grows almonds and a handful of chemical-free pepper and squash varieties in Modesto. "The last few years, that attitude has changed. The government is an asset."
Young is typical of small farmers sprouting up across the country. He's a part-time farmer who cultivates a small parcel of land intensively seven months a year, selling his produce to neighbors and at community markets.
Small farmers gravitate toward fresh or exotic goods -- such as strawberries, shiitake mushrooms, ginseng, herbs, exotic livestock and organic crops -- because they fetch higher prices at market and are more suited to generating a sustainable income on smaller parcels of land.
"I initially went organic because that was the way I wanted to farm, rather than for a monetary advantage," Anderson said. "Now, though, it's become clear that having certified organic almonds is what keeps the farm operating."
-- For more information, contact the USDA's Small Farm Program at www.usda.gov/oce/smallfarm/sfhome.htm.