Part-time farming and the stability of family farms in the Federal Republic of Germany1

The relative stability of part-time farms is a basic issue in debates over structural reform in agriculture. This paper evaluates the expected stability of full- and part-time farms. The stability of individual farms is measured as the farm operator‘s expectation of the family continuing to farm. Both short- and long-run stability are evaluated via multivariate analysis. This analysis shows that the availability of an adequate family work force is of paramount importance in determining the long-run stability of part-time farms.