ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a guide to significant sources of information relating to agricultural research policy and the family farm. Agricultural research policy is concerned with how scientists choose their research problems; how projects are approved; how funds are distributed; how research is disseminated through extension agents, patents, and journals; and generally how to define the benefits of research. The idea of the family farm began in American history in the 18th century and is usually traced to Thomas Jefferson. Richard Kirkendall in "A History of the Family Farm" argues that Jeffersonian agrarianism was a blend of aristocratic agrarian ideas and democratic politics. While agricultural research incorporates many facets of agriculture, the development of technology has been identified as one facet with important consequences for family farms. Several essays consider the role of technology in maintaining or undermining family farms and offer some implications for developments and effects.
