ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact that local socioeconomic and inputs factors have on the structure of local forms. While direct linkages between the community's socioeconomic structure and its ferro. The important linkage discovered between change in the civilian labor force and shifts in farmland acreage supports the notion that economic expansion creates a greater demand for land, often resulting in the conversion of farmland for nonfarm uses. The model argues that socioeconomic changes within the community may directly or indirectly influence the structure of the farm sector by affecting the comparative cost structure of the farm and/or the opportunity costs of farm labor. Community shifts may also influence farm family income by changing the opportunity costs erf form labor. The chapter offers a framework that provides a beginning point for systematically assessing the effects of key community changes on the local farm sector. Farm structure is represented by two key dimensions: farm scale and labor resources components.
