Small farms are far more productive , producing from 200 to 1,000 percent more per acre than large farms. Large farms must plant monocultures because they are easiest to manage with heavy machinery. But monocultures make inefficient use of space. Small farms are more efficient than large farms, say the few studies that have actually compared them. When economists measure a farm's use of capital, land and labor, they find that large farms are very inefficient.
Small farms promote regional economic development .
In farming communities dominated by large corporate farms, nearby towns die off. Mechanization means fewer local jobs, and absentee ownership means that settled farm families themselves are no longer to be found. In these corporate-farm towns, the income earned in agriculture is drained off into larger cities to support distant enterprises, while in towns surrounded by family farms, the income circulates locally, generating more local businesses, schools, parks, churches, clubs, and newspapers, along with better services, higher employment, and more civic participation. Small farmers are better stewards of natural resources . The small farm landscape is typically filled with biodiversity.