IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/agreko/54219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Characteristics of the agricultural sector of the 21st Century

Author

Listed:
  • Troskie, Dirk P.
  • Mathijs, Erik
  • Vink, Nick

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to identify some of the salient characteristics of agriculture in the new millennium. The driving force behind economic change is technology and information, and information and knowledge will replace land, labour and capital as the sources of wealth in agriculture. The resultant cognitive-technical complex in farm production will lead to the true industrialisation of farming and thus placing the traditional family farmer at a distinct disadvantage. Technology developments combined with inverse population growth and ageing population, will not only negate Malthusian visions, but also lead to downward pressure on farm commodity prices, and thus increase the adoption rates of new technology. However, in reaction to the increasingly complex nature of modern society a demand is developing for terroir-based products. This range of products may not only significantly change some characteristics of agriculture, but also provide a new set of opportunities for farmers. Agricultural policy and development strategies should also be reconsidered in the light of this new environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Troskie, Dirk P. & Mathijs, Erik & Vink, Nick, 2000. "Characteristics of the agricultural sector of the 21st Century," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 39(4), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:agreko:54219
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.54219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/54219/files/14%20_05_%20Troskie_%20Mathijs%20_%20Vink%20Dec%202000.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.54219?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harl, Neil E., 2000. "The Age of Contract Agriculture," Staff General Research Papers Archive 1791, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Harl, Neil E., 2000. "The Age Of Contract Agriculture: Consequences Of Concentration In Input Supply," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, March.
    3. James T. Bonnen & David B. Schweikhardt, 1998. "The Future of U.S. Agricultural Policy: Reflections on the Disappearance of the "Farm Problem"," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 2-36.
    4. Susan Offutt & Katherine R. Smith & Nicole Ballenger, 1998. "Have Farmers Lost Their Uniqueness? Comment," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 203-205.
    5. Renée Drury & Luther Tweeten, 1997. "Have Farmers Lost Their Uniqueness?," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 19(1), pages 58-90.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schimmelpfennig, David E. & Pray, Carl E. & Brennan, Margaret F., 2004. "The impact of seed industry concentration on innovation: a study of US biotech market leaders," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 157-167, March.
    2. Ekanem, Enefiok P. & Muhammad, Safdar & Tegegne, Fisseha & Singh, Surendra P., 2004. "Consumer Biotechnology Food And Nutrition Information Sources: The Trust Factor," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 35(1), pages 1-7, March.
    3. Frasa, Stefanie & Carlberg, Jared & Hogan, Robert, 2015. "Use of Contracts by Prairie Agricultural Producers," Working Papers 232328, Structure and Performance of Agriculture and Agri-products Industry (SPAA).
    4. Rehber, Erkan, 2007. "A Global Overview of Contract Farming," Monographs: Applied Economics, AgEcon Search, number 259079, July.
    5. Srinivasan, C. S., 2003. "Concentration in ownership of plant variety rights: some implications for developing countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 519-546.
    6. Elliott, Matthew & James, Harvey Jr., 2013. "Nature Of The Farm: Revisited," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150726, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. H. Frederick Gale, 2003. "Age-Specific Patterns of Exit and Entry in U.S. Farming, 1978–1997," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 25(1), pages 168-186.
    8. A.Allan Schmid, 2004. "The Spartan School Of Institutional Economics At Michigan State University," Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, in: Wisconsin "Government and Business" and the History of Heterodox Economic Thought, pages 207-243, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    9. Bruno Henry de Frahan & J r mie Dong & Rembert De Blander, 2017. "Farm Household Incomes in OECD Member Countries over the Last 30 Years of Public Support," LIS Working papers 700, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Hopkins, Jeffrey W. & Taylor, Michael A., 2001. "Are U.S. Farm Programs Good Public Policy? Taking Policy Performance Seriously," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20706, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    11. Hedley, Douglas D., 1998. "Global Challenges: Local Issues," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 37(4), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Phillips, Jon C. & Peterson, H. Christopher, 2002. "Inventorying Resources: An Application To Product-Oriented Agriculture," Staff Paper Series 11800, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    13. Phillips, Jon C. & Peterson, H. Christopher, 2002. "Inventorying Resources: An Application To Product-Oriented Agriculture," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19614, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Harsche, Johannes, 2007. "Bestimmungsfaktoren für das Erwerbsverhalten von Landwirten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Unternehmereigenschaften," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 56(02), pages 1-12.
    15. Steven C. Blank, 2002. "A Portfolio Of Threats To American Agriculture," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(4), pages 381-393, October.
    16. Freshwater, David & Leising, Jordan, 2015. "Why farm support Persists: An Explanation Grounded in Congressional political Economy," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196794, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    17. Boussios, David & Skorbiansky, Sharon Raszap & Maclachlan, Matthew, 2021. "Evaluating U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Long-Term Forecasts for U.S. Harvested Area," USDA Miscellaneous 309616, United States Department of Agriculture.
    18. Freshwater, David & Leising, Jordan D., 2015. "Why Farm Support Persists: An Explanation Grounded in Congressional Political Economy," Staff Papers 198782, University of Kentucky, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    19. Boussios, David & Skoriansky, Sharon Raszap & MacLachlan, Matthew, 2021. "Evaluating U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Long-Term Forecasts for U.S. Harvested Area," USDA Miscellaneous 309619, United States Department of Agriculture.
    20. Lerohl, Mel L. & Unterschultz, James R., 2000. "Agriculture In Canada: Who Will Grow The Food?," 2000 Annual Meeting, June 29-July 1, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia 36394, Western Agricultural Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:agreko:54219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeasaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.