Commodity Agriculture, Civic Agriculture and the Future of U.S. Farming

Commodity agriculture and civic agriculture represent two distinct types of farming found in the U.S. today. Commodity agriculture is grounded on the belief that the primary objectives of farming should be to produce as much food/fiber as possible for the least cost. It is driven by the twin goals o...

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Published inRural sociology Vol. 69; no. 3; pp. 370 - 385
Main Authors Lyson, Thomas A., Guptill, Amy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2004
Rural Sociological Society
Subjects
Agribusiness
Agricultural and food market
Agricultural commodities
Agricultural economics
Agricultural enterprises
Agricultural industry
Agricultural policy
Agricultural Production
Agricultural productivity
Agricultural trade
Agriculture
Agronomy
Capital
Commodities
Community Characteristics
Comparative analysis
Demographics
Direct marketing
Economic Factors
Economic sociology
Efficiency
Farming
Farming systems
Food
Production. Distribution. Advertising
Productivity
Rural sociology
Sociodemographics
Sociology
Sociology of economy and development
U.S.A
United States
Universities
USA
United States Of America
United States > US
Productivity
Citizenship
Agriculture
Comparative analysis
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Summary:Commodity agriculture and civic agriculture represent two distinct types of farming found in the U.S. today. Commodity agriculture is grounded on the belief that the primary objectives of farming should be to produce as much food/fiber as possible for the least cost. It is driven by the twin goals of productivity and efficiency. Civic agriculture, on the other hand, represents the rebirth of a more locally oriented agriculture and food system. Using data from the 1992 and 1997 Censuses of Agriculture and other secondary data sets, we examine factors and conditions associated with the presence and growth of both types of agriculture. Our findings show that civic agriculture is associated with particular commodities and with specific social, economic and demographic characteristics of localities. Commodity agriculture, on the other hand, is more sensitive to the classic economic factors of production, namely, land, labor, and capital.
Bibliography:Support for this research was provided in part by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station in conjunction with USDA/CSREES regional research projects NE-1012 and NC-1001. Direct correspondence to: Thomas Lyson, Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; e-mail: tal2@cornell.edu
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Support for this research was provided in part by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station in conjunction with USDA/CSREES regional research projects NE‐1012 and NC‐1001. Direct correspondence to: Thomas Lyson, Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; e‐mail
tal2@cornell.edu
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ISSN:0036-0112
1549-0831
DOI:10.1526/0036011041730464