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Strategies
for Successful Small Farms
Ron
Macher, publisher of Small Farm Today magazine, defines
a small farm as one having less than 179 acres and $50,000
in sales. Nationally, this category represents about three-quarters
of all farms and one-quarter of sales. According to Mr.
Macher, this definition is more useful to small farmers
than the one used by USDA's National Commission on Small
Farms, which defined a small farm as one having a gross
income of less than $250,000. Mr. Macher explains that 92%
of the nation's farms fall under the $250,000 definition.
He explains that since this is most of the nation's farms,
USDA could legitimately claim that its work focuses on small
farms, which, according to him, it doesn't. He continues
that the societal value of small farms is significant, its
most valuable product being children with strong work ethic
and high moral standards. Small farmers support local business;
they spend 75% of their money locally as compared to the
population as a whole which spends 54% locally.
Mr.
Macher characterized successful small farms and farmers:
- Open
minded.
- Farming
goals are family goals.
- Must
be profitable to be sustainable.
- Big
picture versus band-aid thinkers .
- Not
ashamed to think, practicing agripreneurs.
- Avoid
debt.
- Have
business plan and mission statement.
- Avid
readers looking for new ideas.
- Production
system balances labor and resources, doesn't overload
them.
- Keeps
good records and knows production costs.
- Diversified.
- Year
around income from farm products.
- Products
and production are sound economically, environmentally,
and socially.
- Find
niche markets. Do not attempt to compete on a commodity
basis.
He
also made the following recommendations to Extension Services:
- Don't
moan about the aging of agriculture while at the same
time discourage young people from farming by telling
them it is unprofitable.
- Adopt
and teach an attitude change: farm for profit, not for
production.
- Be
responsive to the needs of small farms, they are 75%
of all farms.
- Nobody
knows about Extension's resources: advertise, publish,
use the Internet.
- Offer
farmers courses on salesmanship, marketing, adding value,
and processing.
- Train
or employ people whose specialization does not prevent
their looking at the whole farm-the big picture.
- Dig
out, dust off, and revise the old publications: those
written between 1920 and 1960 often apply directly to
sustainable agriculture.
Concepts
described in this report were provided by Ron Macher, farmer,
editor, and publisher of Small Farm Today, during a video-conference
held in Spokane and Colville, Washington on March 18, 1999.
Prepared by Tom Platt, WSU Cooperative Extension.
Agricultural
Sustainability. Highlights from a seminar series conducted
by Washington State University's Ag Horizons Team and funded
by USDA Western Region SARE.
Thomas
E. Platt
MSPO Box 399 (mailing)
303 6th Street (street)
Davenport, WA 99122-0399
Phone: (509) 725-4171
FAX: (509) 725-4104
 plattom@wsu.edu
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