Family farmers and ranchers rely on their skill and labor to lessen production costs and enhance marketing opportunities. They lose out when the majority of research outcomes result in higher costs and less options for the family-scale farm or ranch. This research disproportionately benefits the largest farms. Consequentially, there are fewer, more concentrated farms and ranches. We argue for a greater number of dispersed family farms and ranches.
Research is focused on large farms because they are assumed to be more efficient.
Poultry and pork production offers a case in point. Public research efforts have concentrated on large-scale confinement hog and chicken operations. These large-scale operations have put untold numbers of independent family farmers out of business or on economic thin ice. Research that helps producers find low-cost ways to raise and market hogs and chickens could rescue those on thin ice and put some diversity back in the economic playing field. Wishes of Family Farmers and Ranchers Being Ignored Family farmers and ranchers think the focus on industrial scale agriculture is detrimental to the family farm and ranch system.