Family‐Operated Farms: Their Compatibility with Technological Advance

Concepts and measurements were developed to test the hypothesis of the compatibility of the family farm with the postwar economic and technological changes in the organization of farm production. The results suggest that both static and dynamic economic forces continue to influence the patttern of this organization. Although the present family and larger‐than‐family farms only remotely resemble those in the past, they continue their coexistence in approximately the same proportions. Thus, despite profound changes, farms continue to be mostly family‐operated and family‐owned businesses, and family labor continues to be dominant in farming. However, in some traditional locations in California, Florida and a few other States, farm production comes mostly from larger‐than‐family farms—with hired labor as the dominant labor force.