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Tracking the Consolidation of U.S. Agriculture

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  • James M. MacDonald

Abstract

I assess farm sector consolidation in the United States from the 1980s through the most recent (2017) Census of Agriculture. Consolidation has been large, widespread across crop and livestock commodities, and persistent over time. Research on this topic benefits from access to farm‐level datasets, which provide more comprehensive insights into consolidation and alter what we thought we knew about farm consolidation in earlier studies using aggregated data. I close with a reflection on the applications and challenges that I have found in using firm‐, plant‐, and transactions‐level microdata through my career.

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  • James M. MacDonald, 2020. "Tracking the Consolidation of U.S. Agriculture," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 361-379, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:42:y:2020:i:3:p:361-379
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13056
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Richard Volpe & Maiah Alman & Xiaowei Cai & Alexander Stevens, 2022. "Retail Mergers and Acquisitions, and Specialty Crop Producers: Evidence from California," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Sant'Anna, Ana Claudia & Katchova, Ani L., 2022. "How Economic Conditions Changed the Number of U.S. Farms, 1960-88: A Replication and Extension of Gale (1990) to Midsize Farms in the U.S. and Abroad," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321202, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    4. Hemond, Olivia & Butsic, Van & Moanga, Diana & Wartenberg, Ariani C., 2023. "Farm consolidation and turnover dynamics linked to increased crop diversity and higher agricultural input use," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    5. Samiul Haque, 2022. "US federal farm payments and farm size: Quantile estimation on panel data," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 139-154, February.
    6. Matthew Houser, 2022. "Does adopting a nitrogen best management practice reduce nitrogen fertilizer rates?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 79-94, March.
    7. Ayal Kimhi & Nitzan Tzur-Ilan, 2021. "Structural Changes in Israeli Family Farms: Long-Run Trends in the Farm Size Distribution and the Role of Part-Time Farming," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.

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