Farm size and productivity growth in the United States Corn Belt

By N. Key. Food Policy, 2019

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In recent decades, agricultural production in the U.S. has continued to shift to large-scale operations, raising concerns about the economic viability of small and midsized farms. To understand whether economies of size provided an incentive for the consolidation of production, the study estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) of five size classes of grain-producing farms in the U.S. Heartland (Corn Belt) region. Using quinquennial Agricultural Census data from 1982 to 2012 the study also compares TFP growth rates across farm sizes to gain insight into whether observed productivity differences are likely to persist. The finding of a strong positive relationship between farm size and TFP suggests that consolidation of production has contributed to recent aggregate productivity growth in the crop sector. The study estimates the extent to which sectoral productivity growth can be attributed to structural change versus other factors including technological change. The study also explores some tradeoffs associated with policies that raise the productivity of small versus large farms.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ebe2e2f6adbbbc152d29407e8bea12515127a356

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Economics and Econometrics

In General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Citations in the corpus

Which farms feed the world and has farmland become more concentrated? (2021, background): “This strong and positive relationship is also observed between size and productivity growth (Key, 2019; Knopke, O’Donnell, & Shepherd, 2000).”
Harvesting Prosperity: Technology and Productivity Growth in Agriculture (2019, background): “In the case of grain production in the US Corn Belt over 1982–2012, Key (2019) finds that across five farm size classes, not only are larger farms operating at higher TFP levels, but a clear productivity disadvantage emerges when grain operations fall under 100 acres (40 ha).”
The impact of farm size on agricultural sustainability (2019, background): “346 347 3.4 The role of farm size in a societal context over time 348 Reviewing the history of agricultural development in developed countries such as 349 the USA, Japan, Israel and France, reveals that these countries achieved agricultural 350 modernization in the last century with successes on lar”