With more and more agricultural production being concentrated in the hands of large-scale agribusinesses, many family farms are facing a tough future.

Over the past several decades, agricultural production has become more and more centralized in the hands of major corporate farms and farmers. From the 1950s to 2008, the number of American farmers dropped by more than three million while agricultural production jumped significantly, indicating a thriving farm sector that is being increasingly dominated by large-scale interests.

Protecting family farms has been at the center of many farm advocacy group’s policies. A proposed labor reform that would have prevented many children from working on family farms, for example, was prevented thanks to the efforts of farm lobbyists.

While family farms still make up more than 90 percent of American farms, this number is on the decline. Some farm experts have advocated major family farm reforms, particularly in the realm of employment. Family farmers, some experts say, need to behave in a less familial way.

“If you hire a family member who isn’t qualified, who doesn’t fit the position, and maybe doesn’t even want the position, then it’s … unlikely the person would succeed,” said Bernie Erven, a professor of agricultural economics at Ohio State University. “Thus [it’s] not helping the business and not helping the family.”

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer