Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers (Mar. 31, 1970) |
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Economic and Marketing Information FOR INDIANA FARMERS Prepared by the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana March 31, 1970 Factors Related to Success or Failure in Getting Started Farming by John Aubrey Watzek former research assistant in Agricultural Economics, now in Monroe, Louisiana A STUDY CONDUCTED in Clinton County, Indiana during the summer of 1969 indicates that it is still possible for a young man with limited capital to start farming. The study was based upon 30 men who began farming from 1964 through 1967. Of the 30 beginners, 24 had substantial family assistance and, of these, 19 went into partnership with their father, mother, or father-in-law. The other five who had family assistance either rented land from a relative, received a gift, loan, or inheritance from a relative, or had a relative co-sign promissory notes for them. The two major obstacles to getting started farming appear to be the limited number of openings and the high capital requirements. The impact of these obstacles was significantly reduced for those who had family assistance. Many family members consciously created an opening for their son or son-in-law. On the other hand, those who did not have family assistance, moved onto farms where the previous operator simply was no longer capable or de sirous of continuing to operate the farm. After their initial entry into farming, the beginners' most serious problem seemed to be lack of adequate acreage. Because of the severe competition for land, some of the beginning farmers found it necessary to rent several small tracts of land separated by as much as 20 miles. Others simply could not find additional rental land and had to supplement their incomes with nonfarm employment. Still others encumbered themselves with heavy mortgages to purchase land. There were striking similarities among those who had the least difficulty in renting land. In comparison with those who had the most difficulty, they tended to be older, have larger and newer machinery, and were less likely to hold a nonfarm job. Apparently landowners prefer not to rent to inexperienced young men whose machinery is barely adequate, and whose time and energy is largely absorbed by the requirements of a nonfarm job. The mean age when starting was 20.8 and the median was 20.5. Only three men started before age 17 and only three started after age 23. The mean years of school completed was 13.4 and the median was 12.0. Only one person had not completed high school and nine were college graduates. Seven of the 30 were still unmarried during the summer of 1969. Of the 23 wives, all had completed high school, and seven were college graduates. Only five families had any children when they started farming. By the time of the survey, 14 families had at least one child and seven had two or more. All except two of the 30 men were farm-reared. The two who were not, married farm-reared girls and went into partnerships with their fathers-in-law. Eleven of the beginners had never been employed prior to starting to farm and only ten had been employed for a year or more. Thus, prior employment was not a source of capital accumulation for most of the men. However, a
Object Description
Title | Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers (Mar. 31, 1970) |
Purdue Identification Number | UA14-13-econ197003 |
Date of Original | 1970 |
Publisher | Purdue University. Agricultural Extension Service |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Farm produce--Indiana--Marketing Agriculture--Economic aspects--Indiana |
Genre | Periodical |
Collection Title | Extension Economic & Marketing Information (Purdue University. Agricultural Extension) |
Rights | Copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 05/01/2015 |
Digitization Specifications | Original scanned at 400 ppi on a BookEye 3 scanner using Opus software. Display images generated in Contentdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
URI | UA14-13-econ197003.tif |
Description
Title | Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers (Mar. 31, 1970) |
Purdue Identification Number | UA14-13-econ197003 |
Transcript | Economic and Marketing Information FOR INDIANA FARMERS Prepared by the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana March 31, 1970 Factors Related to Success or Failure in Getting Started Farming by John Aubrey Watzek former research assistant in Agricultural Economics, now in Monroe, Louisiana A STUDY CONDUCTED in Clinton County, Indiana during the summer of 1969 indicates that it is still possible for a young man with limited capital to start farming. The study was based upon 30 men who began farming from 1964 through 1967. Of the 30 beginners, 24 had substantial family assistance and, of these, 19 went into partnership with their father, mother, or father-in-law. The other five who had family assistance either rented land from a relative, received a gift, loan, or inheritance from a relative, or had a relative co-sign promissory notes for them. The two major obstacles to getting started farming appear to be the limited number of openings and the high capital requirements. The impact of these obstacles was significantly reduced for those who had family assistance. Many family members consciously created an opening for their son or son-in-law. On the other hand, those who did not have family assistance, moved onto farms where the previous operator simply was no longer capable or de sirous of continuing to operate the farm. After their initial entry into farming, the beginners' most serious problem seemed to be lack of adequate acreage. Because of the severe competition for land, some of the beginning farmers found it necessary to rent several small tracts of land separated by as much as 20 miles. Others simply could not find additional rental land and had to supplement their incomes with nonfarm employment. Still others encumbered themselves with heavy mortgages to purchase land. There were striking similarities among those who had the least difficulty in renting land. In comparison with those who had the most difficulty, they tended to be older, have larger and newer machinery, and were less likely to hold a nonfarm job. Apparently landowners prefer not to rent to inexperienced young men whose machinery is barely adequate, and whose time and energy is largely absorbed by the requirements of a nonfarm job. The mean age when starting was 20.8 and the median was 20.5. Only three men started before age 17 and only three started after age 23. The mean years of school completed was 13.4 and the median was 12.0. Only one person had not completed high school and nine were college graduates. Seven of the 30 were still unmarried during the summer of 1969. Of the 23 wives, all had completed high school, and seven were college graduates. Only five families had any children when they started farming. By the time of the survey, 14 families had at least one child and seven had two or more. All except two of the 30 men were farm-reared. The two who were not, married farm-reared girls and went into partnerships with their fathers-in-law. Eleven of the beginners had never been employed prior to starting to farm and only ten had been employed for a year or more. Thus, prior employment was not a source of capital accumulation for most of the men. However, a |
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