Work

American Farms Keep Growing: Size, Productivity, and Policy

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Commercial agriculture in the United States is comprised of several hundred thousand farms, and these farms continue to become larger and fewer. The size of commercial farms is sometimes best-measured by sales, in other cases by acreage, and in still other cases by quantity produced of specific commodities, but for many commodities, size has doubled and doubled again in a generation. This article summarizes the economics of commercial agriculture in the United States, focusing on growth in farm size and other changes in size distribution in recent decades. I also consider the relationships between farm size distributions and farm productivity growth and farm subsidy policy.

Source: The Journal of Economic Perspectives

DOI: 10.1257/jep.28.1.147

Author: Daniel A. Sumner

Institution: University of California, Davis

Language: English

Topic: Agricultural economics and policies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Small Business Administration, Economic Research Service, Agencia Estatal de Investigación