Going against the grain: Unravelling the habitus of older farmers to help facilitate generational renewal in agriculture

Abstract

Limited uptake of financial incentives, designed to confront global trends of an ageing farming population and low levels of land mobility, reveal resistance or at best ambivalence, amongst farmers towards altering existing farm management and ownership structures in later life. To uncover facets governing the mindset, disposition and practices of older farmers towards succession and retirement, this study draws on Bourdieu's notion of habitus. A multi-method triangulation methodology is employed to obtain in-depth understandings of the senior generation's deeply embedded views, and the changes they perceive will occur upon their engagement in the process. Findings reveal that the attitudes and behaviour required to 'step aside' and retire from farming not only 'go against the grain' of the older farmers' habitus, appearing to be instinctively 'wrong', they also appear incompatible with what is necessary to earn recognition as a 'good farmer'. The article concludes by recommending that a shift in thinking towards succession and retirement must be confronted at an earlier This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Motivations of Subsistence Farming in Hungary: Analysis of a Multi‐Factored Phenomenon☆

“…88, No. 2, June 2023 to describe the colorful context of the phenomena, and to benefit from the advantages of both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Conway et al 2021;Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner 2007;Small 2011). We found that gardening and subsistence farming are important and widespread across society, although it is declining.…”

“…Our data enable us to analyze the motivations of individuals and the factors influencing them to engage in subsistence farming. We used a mixed method approach to reveal the role of these factors and to be able to describe the colorful context of the phenomena, and to benefit from the advantages of both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Conway et al 2021; Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner 2007; Small 2011). We found that gardening and subsistence farming are important and widespread across society, although it is declining.…”

Young Farmers’ Perceptions of Sustainability in a Wine Region in Hungary

“…Chiswell [12] analysed the transfer of managerial control of family farms, and she emphasises the role of individualisation processes in intergenerational transfer. Many scholars [13][14][15] confirm that rural regeneration and especially intergenerational transfer in family farming is crucial to the continuity and future of family farms and also of rural society. Studies prove that the younger generation seeks and demands greater independence and autonomy, and if this is not possible, the succession can fail.…”

“…Studies prove that the younger generation seeks and demands greater independence and autonomy, and if this is not possible, the succession can fail. Conway et al [13] highlight that understanding the new farming habitus is crucial in order to appreciate all aspects of succession in farming communities. Habitus is also emphasised in the context of organic farming.…”

“…Social, cultural, and emotional aspects of intergenerational farm transfer also appear in the literature [13,17,18]. Conway et al [17] prove that farmer-farm attachment is a focal point to understand generational change in farmer society.…”