Success in Farm Start-ups in the Northeastern United States

Abstract

On one hand, food system analysts have been concerned about many topics: the rising age of farm operators, declining farm numbers, lack of adoption of practices and systems supporting greater ecological sustainability, and interest in increased food production for local markets. On the other hand, many energetic and enthusiastic people express interest in farming and producing more community-based food. Many of these people also claim values related to sustainability. a This is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, Tampa, FL, August Despite prospective and new farmers' strong interest and enthusiasm, most face numerous challenges in their start-up phase and many do not continue, even those showing considerable promise. In this paper we focus on the results from in-depth interviews with current and former startup farmers in the Northeastern U.S. We illuminate four sets of factors related to "success" in farm start-ups: social context, personal characteristics, business characteristics, and luck. We then make three recommendations for the consideration of policy-makers, farm start-up advisors, and beginning farmers: advising and mentoring, conceiving of farms as parts of a larger food system, and focus on playing to strengths.

“Profitability” vs. “Making It:” Causes and Consequences of Disembedding Beginning Farms’ Finances

“…Others utilize volunteers or farm interns to manage labor costs (Janssen ). Gillespie and Johnson () indicate that, alongside business and personal characteristics, a supportive social context and luck often contribute to farms’ start‐up success.…”

“…The structural conditions channeling returns away from farm households and toward corporations are the result of a series of “largely deliberate” policy decisions (Beckett and Galt , 21), and are responsible for many of the challenges facing new farmers. Studies repeatedly indicate that beginning farmers running many types of operations find reliable access to land and capital difficult to secure (Ackoff, Bahrenburg, and Shute ; Gillespie and Johnson ; Shute ), and, like other entrepreneurs, struggle to afford and access healthcare (Inwood et al. ).…”

La «cuina compromesa»: estudio de caso exploratorio sobre la viabilidad de prácticas alternativas de restauración en la nueva ruralidad catalana

“…El concepto de nuevo campesinado (new peasantry) fue establecido por Ploeg (2008) y ha sido estudiado y analizado por otros investigadores desde diferentes perspectivas (Aurélie, 2007;Binimelis et al, 2008;Euskadiko Gazteriaren Kontseilua, 2010;Gillespie y Johnson, 2010;Mailfert, 2007;Monllor, 2011;Niewolny y Lillard, 2010;Pérez, 2010). El argumento principal del fenómeno emergente muestra cómo el campesinado, lejos de desaparecer o extinguirse, se renueva y renace en infinitos lugares del mundo.…”

Land Trusts and Beginning Farmers’ Access to Land: Exploring the Relationships in Coastal California

“…One manifestation of these structural constraints is that the beginner farmer population is having difficulty accessing affordable farmland (Ahearn & Newton, 2009;Gillespie & Johnson, 2010). This means that subsidized access to landat a level below going market value -is important for many beginner farmers since returns to farms are often quite low, they often have little capital and equity in their farms, and many are trying to farm near urban areas where land prices are high.…”