Chapter 65 Farm Size

Land institutions and supply chain configurations as determinants of soybean planted area and yields in Brazil

“…However, it is also possible that larger farms might be able to afford newer, more efficient technologies that smaller farms would not have access to, such as precision agriculture. A majority of studies in developing countries found an inverse relationship between farm size and yields (Eastwood, 2010), but there is no evidence of this relationship in recent soy or corn production Brazil or the United States. In fact, Kaufmann and Snell (1997) found a positive relationship between farm size and yields in United States corn production.…”

Representation of decision-making in European agricultural agent-based models

“…These farms are, however, much more capitalized and embedded in market relations (both for inputs and outputs) and there is much more diversity in terms of access to and use of technology than typical subsistence oriented small family farms in developing countries (Meyfroidt, 2017). In contrast to North America or Australia, average farm size in Europe is much smaller (Eastwood et al, 2010).…”

De-mystifying family farming: Features, diversity and trends across the globe

“…Whilst the term 'family farm' is commonly used both in the scientific and popular literature, there is no common definition to characterise family farms across the globe (Hill, 1993;Eastwood et al, 2010). Definitions often include two criteria: (1) family ownership of the land, or land tenure rights over generations, and (2) the use of family labour (Errington and Gasson, 1994;Kritzinger and Vorster, 1997).…”