Passing on the family farm is the lifeblood of agriculture. Who gets the farm? Why do
some children leave and some stay?
These are questions addressed by rural sociologists Glen Elder and Elizabeth Robertson
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rand Conger at the University of
California, Davis and formally at Iowa State University. Their complete observations are
contained in a book, "Children of the Land," published in 2000. They surveyed
245 male farmers, their fathers and their adolescent sons in north central Iowa as part of
an ongoing study with the Iowa Youth and Families Project.
The grandparent generation typically grew up on farms in the 20s and 30s and started
farming when the demand for farm products soared during World War II and in the post World
War II era. Their sons were typically born after World War II and chose farming during an
expansionary phase of agriculture in the 60s and 70s. The farmers of today had their entry
into agriculture during the late 70s and 80s when agriculture went through a devastating
crisis.
Elder and his colleagues found that the economics of each era - and each farm - affects
attitudes and decisions to enter farming and whether there is a viable farm operation to
join. They also found that the quality of the relationship between father and son during
preteen and early adolescent years plays a major role in the decision to farm. Here are
some of their main findings:
Financial stress. By early adolescence, teens have formed their feelings about
farming based on their attachments to the land, close working relationships within the
farm family, the independence of farming and prospects for the future. Financial strain on
the parents affects the attitude of the sons. If the parents see no future in agriculture
and/or angry and bitter over their farming experience, their sons plan to leave.
Prosperity. Young men are more likely to enter farming or strongly prefer to live
in a rural area if they come from highly productive farms and do not have any or many
brothers. Parental help is necessary to get them started. This process is easier when
there arent as many male children competing for family resources.
During times of prosperity, the holdings of the parents and the economic prospects of
the farm help sons decide to farm whatever the interpersonal qualities of the father and
the harmony in the family.
Full-time farming. Sons of farmers who lease or labor on farms do not enter farming
at the rate of those whose fathers own and operate their own farms. Children of landowners
are taught more, given more opportunity to learn skills, taught the work ethic, and have
more parental encouragement for their aspirations to farm.
Sons choose to farm more readily when their father is a full time operator and when the
relationship between them was positive. Sons watching their fathers who combine farming
with off-farm employment arent as apt to identify with the lifestyle or the
profession.
Warm and supportive fathers. Young men are more likely to prefer farming or a rural
way of life when they identify with and enjoy a close supportive relationship with their
father in a family atmosphere of minimal conflict. The quality of the relationship with
the mother isn't a dominant factor in this life choice.
Young men who leave agriculture have the same work history and involvement on the farm
as the ones who stay. The difference is the type of relationship they have had with their
father. Sons who enjoy close contact with warm and supportive fathers develop a strong
attachment for farming and prefer a rural lifestyle even when economic times are bleak.
Harsh and critical fathers. During hard tines in agriculture, the personal quality
of the father and the quality of the father/son relationship is a major factor in the
decision to choose or persist in agriculture even when prospects appear bleak. When tough
times are coupled with fathers who have marriage problems and are punitive and controlling
in their parenting, sons and their families choose to leave.
Harsh and hostile fathers are more likely to have adult sons who are also harsh and
hostile in their parenting style. Fathers are role models for how their sons may be
someday. Sons who move away from their fathers have much less continuity of parenting
style. Elder and his associates found that transmission of parenting styles are much more
prominent in farm families than any other sector of society.
A quick test. Here's a quick test for fathers to see if they might attract their
sons to farming as a career choice.
- Are you personally optimistic about the financial viability of farming?
- How secure is your financial position?
- Do you communicate an attitude of relative satisfaction with farming to your sons?
- Do your sons like working with you and enjoy a warm, close bond without a lot of
harshness and criticism - especially as you work together?
- Do they see a happy marriage and experience a harmonious family life?
The reality of the next generations ability to farm will depend on the economic
conditions ten or 15 years from now. However, the motivation and decision to farm is being
formed by pre-and early teens right now. What are they seeing and feeling?