ABSTRACT
This chapter shows what changes in the farm enterprise have occurred in recent decades that have significance for the farm family. It explores how the farm family has become involved in work off the farm as an adaptation to these changing economic forces. The chapter describes the involvement of women in the farm enterprise and changes in attitudes toward men's and women's roles. The increased size of farms and the capital investment needed to maintain them is at the root of the straggle of the farm family to stay in farming full time. Family-owned and operated farms continue to dominate in the United States, despite changes in their size and dependence upon nonfamily resources. More study is needed of the internal relationships and processes of the farm family and how they are affected by the structures and processes of the environment.
