Information Needs Study Of Alberta Farmers And Farm Families

Author : Karen Beryl Brewka
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (142 download)

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Download or read book A Descriptive Study of Part-time Farming on the Rural-urban Fringe of Edmonton written by Karen Beryl Brewka and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the symptoms of change taking place in Alberta's agricultural industry over the last four decades has been a steady increase in the number of people who combine the business of farming with working off the farm (part-time farming). In order to understand the effects of part-time farming in a particular area and to determine the implications of the increased numbers of part-time farming families for agricultural policy, it became necessary to understand the nature of part-time farming and the extent to which people are engaging in the phenomenon. To this end a descriptive study of part-time farming was undertaken. This phenomenon, particularly evident on the rural-urban fringe of metropolitan centers was examined using a socio-economic survey designed to collect primary data at the farm family level. Through selected characteristics and comparative analysis, a profile of part-time farming families on the rural-urban fringe of Edmonton was developed. Part-time farm operators and their spouses were younger, more highly educated, had lower agricultural sales and were less dependent on farming than full-time farm operators and their spouses. These families, however, had fewer differences with respect to amount of land owned and rented, use of extension services, credit use, and some other characteristics. Further investigation into the part-time farming families was carried out using entry direction (urban, non-farming and rural, full-time farming) as a distinguishing characteristic. It was found that the majority of differences between part and full-time farming families could be attributed to differences between these entrant groups, with rural entrants more closely approximating full-time farming families than urban entrants. The differences between full-time and part-time farming families and between urban and rural entrants are extensive in certain areas. The implication being that part-time farming families should be taken into consideration as distinct from full-time farming families when determining agricultural policy. Also, part-time farming families are a heterogenous group, with entry direction being a most useful discriminating characteristic. On this basis, these two groups should be differentiated when making policy decisions.