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Multifamily farms and America's farm structure: A new perspective on an old issue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Jay M. Lillywhite  and
Michael Duffy
Jay M. Lillywhite
Affiliation:
Teaching Specialist, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108;
Michael Duffy*
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
*
Corresponding author is M. Duffy (mduffy@iastate.edu).
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Abstract

This study examined the extent and nature of multifamily farms in Iowa. Based on a random sample phone survey conducted in 1997, it was found that over one-fourth (26%) of Iowa's farms would be classified as multifamily farms. Multifamily farms showed significant differences from their single-family farm counterparts in several areas. They tended to have younger operators and larger operations, and the operators were more likely to consider farming as their principal occupation. In addition, they had more diverse operations and generated larger farm and family incomes. The farms were further classified based on their annual sales. As expected, non-commercial farms (sales less than $50,000) had the lowest percentage of multifamily farms (21%). Smallcommercial farms with sales from $50,000 to $250,000 were 30% multifamily, while large-commercial farms were 35% multifamily. The study also addressed whether or not policy restrictions based on age and income would discriminate against farms due to the multifamily farm phenomenon. A logit regression analysis was performed to determine if a multifamily structure was significant in predicting whether or not a farm was small. The results showed that multifamily relations were not a significant predictor. A growing phenomenon in U.S. agriculture, namely the multifamily farm, was examined. A significant percentage of Iowa farms was found to be multifamily. There were many differences between multifamily and single-family farms, but these differences did not display any predictive power. More research is needed in order to understand multifamily farms, a structure that will likely continue to grow and influence U.S. agriculture and outreach programs.

Keywords

farm incomefarm sizeIowalogit regressionsingle-family farmsstructure of agriculture
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , December 2001 , pp. 184 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

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