scholarly journals The change of sowing structure as a strategy for improving competitiveness of family farms directed at the final production of fattened beef cattle

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-193
Author(s):  
Sasa Todorovic ◽  
Sinisa Bratic ◽  
Nikola Filipovic

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of sowing structure on family farm competiveness using the model of family farm directed at the final production of fattened beef cattle in the conditions of unchanged estate size. Applying a partial budget analysis, it was examined whether the decision on buying alfalfa hay or mercantile maize on the market and changing the sowing structure was economically justified and under what conditions using additional procedure of sensitive analysis. Applying this approach, it was investigated to what extent that decision contributed to improving the family farm profitability. The results of the conducted research show that the decision on buying mercantile maize mainly contributes to improving competitiveness of family farms directed at the final production of fattened beef cattle compared with the decision on buying alfalfa hay. It is the consequence of the fact that buying mercantile maize on the market will enable sowing structure changes, that is, buying mercantile maize will make the area free, which according to some conservative estimations, can be used for the production of sufficient amounts of alfalfa and silage maize for fattening of additional 19 head, whereas buying alfalfa hay will make the area free, which can be used for production of sufficient amounts of mercantile and silage maize for fattening of additional 6 head. In addition, it is shown that more rational way of organizing family farms directed at the final production of fattened beef cattle can additionally use available land resources and in that way increase profitability and improve competitiveness.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Matser ◽  
Jelle Bouma ◽  
Erik Veldhuizen

PurposeFamily farms, in which business and family life are intricately interwoven, offer an interesting context for better understanding the interdependence between the family and business system. Many family farms struggle to survive, and the succession process is a key period in which the low returns on investment become evident but also the emotional attachment of the family to the farm and the willingness to transfer the business to the next generation. We take the perspective of non-succeeding siblings since they are crucial for a successful succession but their role and position in this process is far from clear. This study will help to increase our knowledge of how fairness is perceived by non-successors and of the impact of perceived (in)justice on the family business system.Design/methodology/approachTo analyze the effect on sibling relationships of an unequal outcome of the succession process, we choose the family farm context. We used interview data from multiple family members from several family farms in the Netherlands in different stages of succession. We utilized a framework based on justice theory to analyze perceptions of fairness among non-succeeding siblings. The central research question for this study is as follows: How do non-succeeding siblings perceive justice with regard to family firm succession?FindingsThe acceptance of the outcomes of the succession process by non-succeeding siblings is influenced by their perception of the fairness of the process itself and decisions made by the incumbent and successor with regard to these outcomes. It seems that stakeholders who occupy multiple roles with conflicting justice perspectives handle these contradictions with the help of an overarching goal—in this study, preserving the continuity of the family farm—and by prioritizing and adjusting the justice perspectives accordingly. The findings further show that both distributive justice and procedural justice are important and interact with each other.Originality/valueOur study contributes to the literature by applying the theoretical framework of distributive and procedural justice to the context of family farm succession. This helps us to understand the position of non-succeeding siblings and their role and position in the succession process, which is important because sibling relationships have a significant impact on family harmony, with potential consequences for the business as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Maura Farrell ◽  
Aisling Murtagh ◽  
Louise Weir ◽  
Shane Francis Conway ◽  
John McDonagh ◽  
...  

The family farm has been the pillar of rural society for decades, stabilising rural economies and strengthening social and cultural traditions. Nonetheless, family farm numbers across Europe are declining as farmers endeavour to overcome issues of climate change, viability, farm structural change and intergenerational farm succession. Issues around farm viability and a lack of innovative agricultural practices play a key role in succession decisions, preventing older farmers from passing on the farm, and younger farmers from taking up the mantel. A multifunctional farming environment, however, increasingly encourages family farms to embrace diversity and look towards innovative and sustainable practices. Across the European Union, organic farming has always been a strong diversification option, and although, historically, its progress was limited within an Irish context, its popularity is growing. To examine the impact of organic farm diversification on issues facing the Irish farm family, this paper draws on a qualitative case study with a group of Irish organic farmers engaged in the Maximising Organic Production System (MOPS) EIP-AGRI Project. The case study was constructed using a phased approach where each stage shaped the next. This started with a desk-based analysis, then moving on to semi-structured interviews and a focus group, which were then consolidated with a final feedback session. Data gathering occurred in mid to late 2020. Research results reveal the uptake of innovative practices not only improve farm viability, but also encourage the next generation of young farmers to commit to the family farm and consider farming long-term.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8486
Author(s):  
Emily A. Paskewitz

Family farm sustainability traditionally focuses on economic and environmental issues. However, sustaining family farms also relies on understanding how to sustain the relationships contained therein. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an important means through which family farm members can sustain relationships, especially when handing conflict between members. This paper focused on how four EI dimensions (awareness of own emotion, management of own emotion, awareness of others’ emotions, management of others’ emotions) could prevent four types of conflict within family farms (task, relational, process, and status). Family farm participants (N = 204) were recruited through social media posts and emails to specialty agricultural groups and agencies, and students at a university. Hierarchical regression results showed that awareness of own emotions, management of own emotions, and management of others’ emotions negatively predicted task, relational, process, and status conflict. Awareness of others’ emotions did not predict any conflict types. Theoretically, this article points to the importance of considering all four EI dimensions, since they impact conflict types differently. For the family farm members, being aware of their own emotions and being able to manage emotional responses in themselves and others can help prevent conflict from occurring, thereby sustaining both family and business relationships for the future.


2018 ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
Jerzy BABIAK

Agriculture is a peculiar sector of the economy that requires support from the state. Its spontaneous transformation is not effective enough, therefore a number of mechanisms are applied to stimulate advantageous structural transformation both at EU and national levels. The agricultural system of West European states is based on the family farm. Although Community law does not define a family farm, different systems provide various measures applied in order to protect family farms, e.g. by means of controlling agricultural land trade. The paper presents the legal and institutional solutions applied in this respect in France, Germany and Denmark. These states have not been randomly selected, as they are the main competitors for Polish agriculture in the Community market, and they have succeeded in establishing an agrarian structure. Against the background of their experience, Polish legal solutions are presented and assessed. The responsibilities of the Agricultural Property Agency are presented in detail; its principal task apart from the management of State Treasury property is to shape agrarian structure.


2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Tihana Sudarić ◽  
Krunoslav Zmaić ◽  
Ružica Lončarić

Eastern part of Croatia is agricultural region according to natural resource (fertile soil, first of all), as well as human potential (long experience in traditional agriculture). Besides agriculture as traditional activity, a characteristic of rurality is also added to this region. Rural area is dominant in Eastern Croatia and it effects on relatively small urban areas. This paper represents new possibilities of rural economic activities on family farms in Eastern Croatia. Role and significant of rural economic activities is analyzed through indicators overview (land structure, GDP, population, population density, TEA index, unemployment ect.). Challenges through diversification of rural economic activities in this paper includes added economic activities realized on family farms through tourism, crafts, handy work, processing, renewable energyetc. Added economic activities on family farms in Eastern Croatia participate with only 3.9%. Suggestions and possibilities measures of rural economic activities diversification are reflected through two main streams. First stream is diversification of activities through added value of agricultural products as vertical connection (organic food, autochthony products, functional food, renewable energy sources etc.). Other one economic activity diversification indicates distribution function of final products through different services on the family farm (direct sale, specialized shops, rural tourism and many other services).


New Medit ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  

Agriculture is a sector that is widely known to be impacted not only by the natural conditions of a country but also by other economic and political sectors. Turkish agriculture, in a context marked in recent years by a rural exodus of young people, marks the vagueness of the current state of the agricultural sector and its future. It is with this in mind that this research was carried out, based on a questionnaire survey of 312 producers in 5 provinces of Turkey, to assess the impact of the ageing of the rural population on the agricultural sector. The results of this study show that with age, producers invest less in agricultural activity, altogether abandoning productions requiring more labour. The possibility of taking over the family farm by descendants plays an important role in the degree of involvement of producers. Through these findings, this study makes it possible to address targeted agricultural policies according to age stages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 1354-1367
Author(s):  
Pawel Chmielinski ◽  
Aleksandra Pawlowska ◽  
Monika Bocian ◽  
Dariusz Osuch

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse tendency of farms to switch from conventional to organic production.Design/methodology/approachThe study used data on 6,229 individual farms, which in 2009–2016 continued to participate in the Polish FADN. Estimation of logit models allowed the authors to indicate, separately for each period in the years between 2009 and 2015, a set of characteristics influencing the decision of farms on the use of organic production.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that, first of all, land factors were of major importance when deciding on conversion to organic farming, with only the own land inputs (owned by the farm) having a positive impact on the transition of farms to organic production. But then the resource of the capital factor, identified with the assets owned by the farm, exercised a significant negative impact. Income derived from the family farm, although had a positive impact, did not significantly determine the farm’s decision on conversion to organic production. While support for agri-environmental purposes had a positive impact on the decision of farm to convert, the payments received under the direct payments affected this decision negatively. The tendency to start organic production is also conditioned regionally.Research limitations/implicationsThe data of this study are limited in size, and limited to the Polish context.Originality/valueThe research setting for this paper is original; the study takes part in the discussion about factors of conversion to organic farming, on example of Poland and is a voice in the discussion on effective support for the development of organic farming in the context of sustainable development.


2015 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan B Dressler ◽  
Loren Tauer

Purpose – A family member may work for the family business even though the direct financial benefits he or she may receive in the form of a salary may be lower than what could be earned working for a non-family business. The lower amount may be accepted because of benefits of association with the family business. This psychic non-pecuniary return has been called socioemotional wealth in the family business research literature. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to estimate socioemotional wealth and apply that technique to a group of family dairy farms to estimate socioemotional wealth for those family farms. Design/methodology/approach – A panel regression method was used to empirically allocate net farm income to the unpaid factors of equity, labor, and management provided by a family member in a family farm partnership. The estimated returns of labor plus management are compared to the market salary earned by farm managers who manage farms. The difference between the higher hired farm manager salary and what the family manager earns in the family farm from labor and management is an estimate of the non-pecuniary return the family member receives from managing the family farm as compared to managing the non-family farm. Findings – Differences in managers’ salary working for the non-family farm and the implied family manager financial compensation estimates indicate that family business managers’ non-pecuniary return from managing the family farm had an implied economic value averaging $22,026 per year over 1999-2008. Assuming that the manager would be indifferent between working for the family farm or the non-family farm if the sum of pecuniary and non-pecuniary returns were the same, the non-pecuniary annual benefits of $22,026 accrues in the form of socioemotional wealth associated as a member in the family business. Originality/value – Although the literature discusses how family members may accept a lower salary working for the family business than they could earn doing comparable work in a non-family business because of non-financial rewards they experience working for the family business, there have been no estimates of the value of this pecuniary benefit. The authors arrive at an estimate using a group of family dairy farm businesses that have multiple family managers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 527-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jūratė SAVICKIENĖ ◽  
Astrida MICEIKIENĖ

This article is aimed to address the issue of sustainable economic development assessment in family farms. A complex methodology of family farm sustainable economic development assessment based on the family farm sustainable economic development index has been created following analysis of family farm sustainable economic development assessment methodologies, which are proposed by scientists and used in practice. The Kruskal-Wallis test and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to check the relevance of the index in family farm sustainable economic development assessment. The index value range was calculated using descriptive statistics. The characteristics of the index allow creating models for family farm sustainable economic development classification types based on k-means clustering. The family farms were classified into nine types. Examples of Lithuanian family farms were provided to demonstrate practical applications of the index. Furthermore, analysis of Lithuanian family farm sustainable economic development types by specialisation enabled to identify the main reasons for the existing situation in the farms.


1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Dumas ◽  
Jean Pierre Dupuis ◽  
Francine Richer ◽  
Louise St.-Cyr

The survival of family farms is threatened by rapid change, intense international competition, and a resulting reduction of interest in perpetuating the family farm. What influences the next generation to pursue family farming, in spite of the difficulties? Do these factors differ between men and women? An in-depth, descriptive, and exploratory study of thirty next generation family farm members indicates specific factors critical to their decision to pursue the family farm succession. The findings are depicted in a framework that portrays these factors of influence and the effect they have on the succession decision of the next generation. Implications for practice and future research are also presented.


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