ABSTRACT
Data from Dodge County contradict the assumption of downward inability and suggest that only a minority of part-time farmers have tried to farm full-time and been forced into off-farm work in order to continue in agriculture. Data for both the Census of Agriculture and the Dodge County study suggest that the moderate-sized family farm has declined greatly in numbers since World War II, but has not yet reached invisibility. Dodge County was carefully chosen to reflect Coastal Plain rowcrop and livestock production patterns, without heavy reliance on either peanut or tobacco programs or nearby urban development. The Dodge County data suggest that most part-time farmers make a commitment early in life to an off-farm job. The Dodge County data provide even more reassurance that young people have been able to enter farming successfully in the last decade. Partnerships, of fathers and sons or between brothers, are an important strategy for young farmers to enter farming during a low-profit period.
