Multifunctionality and the Family Farm
There’s an interesting story on farming in the April issue of Gourmet. The story in general is about the federal Farm Bill and how it could support more innovation and conservation.
A sidebar titled “Analyze This” gathers a handful of telling facts, comparing Walworth County, S.D., and a five-county area in New York (Columbia, Ulster, Dutchess, Albany and Green counties), which I quote here:
-- Both regions have roughly 450,000 acres in agricultural production (just under half of Walworth County’s agricultural land is pasture).
-- Walworth County supports 322 farms. The five-county region of New York supports more than 2,500 farms.
-- In Walworth, the average size of a farm is around 1,500 acres. In the five counties, the average size is around 175 acres.
-- In 2002, Walworth generated $30,600,000 in market value for its agricultural products. The five-county area generated over $152,000,000 — five times more.
-- Between 2003 and 2005, the 2,500 farms in the five-county area received just over $5 million in government commodity payments. During the same period, the 300-odd farms in Walworth received $10.7 million, more than twice as much.
I think the main point the story’s author, Sam Hurst, is making here is that the government is paying a lot more to an area, Walworth County, that doesn’t generate as much money per acre. Another way of saying this is that Walworth isn’t giving the government a good return on its money, or, worse, is wasting taxpayer dollars.
But another point in these numbers is that it’s not the size of the farm, it’s how you use it.
The article talks about “multifunctionality” in farming, with diverse, sometimes niche crops.
I got wind of this in 2003 when I wrote about how some area farms were selling directly to such restaurants as Lucky 32 and Fabian’s.
When a farmer becomes a direct marketer to restaurants, or even consumers, his or her whole business model changes. Then the farmer is not just the farmer, but the salesman, middleman, delivery man, everything.
A curious thing happens when a farmer does this. Suddenly the farmer is able to make a living off just a few acres of carefully chosen crops instead of the hundreds of acres needed when growing a single crop and selling it wholesale to some corporation. In other words, starts looking a lot more attractive as a career choice.
This new business model is hard for many traditional farmers to get their head around. You’re telling me I can make the same money off three acres of heirloom tomatoes and specialty greens as 100 acres of soybeans? OK, that’s a hypothetical example, but the basic idea is true—most farmers are diversifying with small amounts of quite a few crops.
And I think that’s what’s happening in those five counties in New York.
Growing smaller amounts of niche crops often has great side affects, allowing the farmer to limit or eliminate use of pesticides. Best of all, it increases the amount of fresh food in the local economy.
This is already at work in North Carolina – just look at the increase in CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture programs) that sell produce directly from farms to families.
I don’t expect the federal government to give a big push to this anytime soon. But from where I sit, it’s looking more and more like the future of farming.
(Photo courtesy of Associated Press)
