{"id":4859,"date":"2015-03-17T17:01:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T21:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=4859"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:57:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:57:24","slug":"lets-focus-on-a-farms-performance-not-its-size","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2015\/03\/17\/lets-focus-on-a-farms-performance-not-its-size\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s focus on a farm\u2019s performance, not its size"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"4988502682_c04c714ec8\"<\/a>
Credit: Flickr user Dwight Sipler<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What comes to mind when you think of a \u201cfamily farm?\u201d You\u2019re probably picturing a bucolic spread of less than 100 acres, with a red barn, farmer in overalls, and cows grazing a big pasture. What about the phrase \u201ccorporate farm\u201d or \u201cbig ag?\u201d Do you see a giant, impersonal and industrial-looking operation?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, these common (mis)perceptions are regularly promoted in everything from TV ads to online chats. But the reality is that \u201cbig\u201d does not equate to \u201cbad,\u201d and \u201csmall\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily mean \u201cgood\u201d when it comes to sustainable farming<\/a>. In fact, it\u2019s the wrong debate altogether.<\/p>\n

What really matters is performance, not size.<\/p>\n

Today is National Agriculture Day<\/a>, celebrated annually on March 18, and this year\u2019s theme is sustaining future generations. If we\u2019re going to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population, we\u2019re going to need large and small farms alike. And no matter their size, they\u2019ll need to minimize their impacts on the natural systems that sustain us all.<\/p>\n

Addressing the myth<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a myth that large farms can\u2019t be sustainable, just as it\u2019s a myth that all family farms are small and better for the environment.<\/p>\n

Take Christine Hamilton<\/a>, for example, whose family farm produces corn, soybeans, winter wheat and cattle across 14,000 acres in South Dakota. For years she\u2019s been participating in USDA conservation programs, using no-till practices, planting trees to limit erosion, and utilizing variable rate technologies to improve the environment and her yields.<\/p>\n

There are also places like Fair Oaks Farms<\/a>, which milks over 500 cows \u2026 an hour<\/em>. To make their large operation more sustainable, Fair Oaks pumps methane from its livestock to an on-site natural gas station that compresses it into fuel for the farm\u2019s fleet of 40 milk trucks.<\/p>\n

Many small-farm operations implement sustainable practices as well. A perfect example is Full Belly Farms<\/a>, a 400-acre organic farm in Northern California that won last year\u2019s prestigious\u00a0Leopold Conservation Award<\/a>. But I\u2019ve visited small farms where livestock roam freely into streams, soil erosion destroys riverbanks, and nutrient management plans are nonexistent.<\/p>\n

Sharing responsibility\"4.1.1\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the U.S., agriculture already occupies 51 percent of our land<\/a>, uses 80 percent of our water<\/a>, and is responsible for 8 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. And in the coming decades U.S. farms will be responsible for producing even more food. In order to make agriculture a plus for the environment, farm practices will need to change.<\/p>\n

Of course, we have to keep in mind the context here. Mid-size and large-scale family farms account for 8 percent of U.S. farms but 60 percent of the value of production, so in order to bring sustainable agriculture to scale, they will have to do the bulk of the work. But small farms have a much higher share of production for specific commodities in the U.S. \u2013 they account for 56 percent of domestic poultry production<\/a>, for example \u2013 so we\u2019ll need their leadership, too.<\/p>\n

Regardless of size, all farms need to:<\/p>\n