Summer 1993 (v5n4)
	Sustainability of Pacific Northwest horticultural producers. Cordray, S. M., L.S. Ley, R.P Dick, and H. Murray J. Production Agriculture 6(1):121-125. 1993 In an effort to determine how "sustainable" are western Oregon and Washington farmers, the authors of this paper conducted two telephone interviews of over 300 growers of potatoes, broccoli, sweet corn, raspberries, and strawberries. Numerous sources were used to identify the growers, who represented a wide range of farm sizes. Initially, a single sustainability scale was to be used for the interviews, but it was determined that the variables separated into two distinct scales. The Input Change Scale was used to identify the changes in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the past five years. The Production Practices Scale assessed farmers' use of alternative production practices, including: integration of livestock in the farming operation, type of tillage, use of rotations, nitrogen budgeting, sources of nitrogen, nonchemical methods of pest control, and methods used to control erosion. The Production Practices Scale also examined farm characteristics, family structure, and participation in farm work, community involvement, and purchasing patterns. The authors note that the two scales are not correlated with each other. That is, producers in this region who were reducing input use have different characteristics from those who were adopting a variety of alternative production practices. According to the Input Change Scale, producers using fewer agricultural chemicals farmed fewer acres and had a higher percentage of family income earned off the farm than those whose use of chemicals had increased. The decreased chemical input group also had fewer employees, less investment in machinery, and lower incomes than the increased input group. Finally, the decreased chemical input group sold more produce at fresh market and bought slightly more inputs from local sources. In contrast to the Input Change Scale, the Production Practices Scale indicated that growers having greater use of alternative production practices had larger farms, greater investments in machinery, and somewhat higher incomes than those using fewer alternative practices. Family members on the farms with higher levels of alternative practices were less likely to work off the farm, and the percentage of family income earned off the farm was lower. The authors compared the influence of farm size and principal occupation of the operator on input use and production practice decisions. Similar trends were found for these variables: Full-time and large-scale producers (360 acres or more) were far more likely to increase their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides than part-time and small-scale farmers (39 acres or less); Part-time and small-scale producers used limited primary tillage and noncommercial nitrogen sources more than large-scale and full-time producers who used cultivation or rotation for most weed control, nitrogen budgeting, and various ecological cropping and rotation patterns. Conclusions This research highlights the difficulties involved in characterizing the "sustainability" of a set of agricultural producers. It also points out the strong influence of structural factors such as farm size and the principal occupation of the farmer on the practices farmers use. According to the authors, the results of the study seem reasonable because small-scale producers can more easily reduce chemical use by substituting labor (e.g., hand-weeding) for chemicals; large-scale producers, on the other hand, usually have more resources (e.g., land and money) to test and use alternative practices. Though for a limited set of horticultural producers, this research lends support to the argument that "policies for moving farmers in the direction of using more sustainable practices should take into account the structural factors that influence the adoption of such practices." Table 1. Comparison of farms using fewer chemicals (Input Change Scale) and farms implementing more alternative practices (Production Practices Scale). Sustainability Measure Fewer More Altern. Farm Characteristics Chemicals Practices Farm size Smaller Larger % income earned off-farm Greater Less Farm income Lower Higher Number of employees Fewer More Investment in machinery Less More For more information write to: S.M. Cordray, Department of Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 (CI-SUST.087) Contributed by Chuck Ingels   [ Back | Search | Feedback ]