Dynamics of the small farmers' behaviour - scenario simulations

Abstract

Th e paper deals with the dynamic simulation of the possible development scenarios of small farmers. Th e model is based on the offi cial data sources but also on the qualitative research of small farmers. Th e modelling structure refl ects the specifi cs of the examined fi eld and personal and social specifi cs of small farmers. For the purposes of the analysis, the business model describes the value creation in the small and individual farms, thereafter the model is extended into the dynamic simulation model and the selected scenarios of development are simulated. Th e analysis shows the impact of the current setup in the fi eld. Despite the fact that the paper contains the optimistic scenarios, a simple change of parameters leads to an unsustainable situation. Th e pessimistic scenarios grow from the realistic conditions when the parameters refl ect the recent period settings. Th is clearly depicts the infl uence of the weak market position of the farmers and advocates the diversifi cation tendencies.

New Approach to Sustainability in Rural Areas Comprising Agriculture Practices–Analysis of Demonstration Farms in the Czech Republic

“…This fact impacts also on demonstration activities which are relatively on a high professional level. On the other side, farms with less than 500 ha and fewer than three employees have significantly worse information coverage [30][31][32].…”

Understanding the decision‐making in small‐scale beef cattle herd management through a mathematical programming model

“…However, not all farms with such small herds represent new farms. Some farmers focus on crop production and keep small herds only as a pastime (Koláčková et al, 2017). The prices presented in Table 4 are from 2016.…”

“…Although Czech beef cattle farming without subsidies would not be profitable in current circumstances (Syr ůček et al, 2017a(Syr ůček et al, , 2017b, one must understand that the big market players conduct both primary production and beef processing; therefore, they constitute the demand for small farmers' products. These players know the value of production costs and volumes of subsidies; moreover, they maintain a much stronger market position than small individual farmers (Fousekis et al, 2016;Koláčková et al, 2017).…”

“…The average Czech farm has a size of 115 ha (Czech Statistical Office, 2018). Regardless of average size, small Czech farms face the same problems related to the weak market position as farms with significantly smaller land area in other countries (Koláčková et al., 2017; Krejčí et al., 2019).…”

“…Farmers require knowledge and skills that are not common and necessary for pure farming, which could lead to necessary changes in agricultural and rural education at the individual and community levels (Husák and Hudečková, 2017; Tomšíková et al., 2019) and could influence the social identity of farmers (Markantoni et al., 2014; Stotten et al., 2019). One must understand that farmers are willing to stay in the market despite the undesirable situation because their motivational factors are frequently noneconomic, for example, tradition and family connection with the land are frequently more important than profit maximization (Koláčková et al., 2017). In other words, diversification is not suitable for every farmer.…”