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Beyond ‘Hobby Farming’: towards a typology of non-commercial farming

Author

Listed:
  • Lee-Ann Sutherland

    (The James Hutton Institute)

  • Carla Barlagne

    (The James Hutton Institute)

  • Andrew P. Barnes

    (Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC))

Abstract

In this paper we develop a typology of ‘non-commercial’ approaches to farming, based on a survey of a representative sample of farmers in Scotland, United Kingdom. In total, 395 (16.6% of the sample) farmers indicated that they do not seek to make a profit on their farms. We estimate that these non-commercial approaches to farming are utilised on at least 13% of agricultural land in Scotland. As such, non-commercial farming (NCF) is not a marginal practice, nor are NCF limited to small-scale ‘hobby’ farms: NCF exist across the scale of agricultural holding sizes and are operated by a wide range of socio-demographic cohorts. We identify 6 types of NCF: agricultural residences, specialist smallholdings, horsiculture holdings, mixed smallholdings, amenity mixed farms, and large farms or estates. These types were differentiated primarily by the scale of farm size, presence of diversification activities and types of animal present. The analysis demonstrates a number of emergent patterns of land management: de facto land abandonment, transition towards ‘horsiculture’, and management differences between retiring and new entrant NCF. We argue that the types identified reflect a number of intersecting issues in contemporary agrarian transitions, particularly the aging farmer population; generational renewal; and gendered implications of agricultural restructuring.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee-Ann Sutherland & Carla Barlagne & Andrew P. Barnes, 2019. "Beyond ‘Hobby Farming’: towards a typology of non-commercial farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 475-493, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:36:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-019-09930-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-019-09930-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee-Ann Sutherland, 2023. "Who do we want our ‘new generation’ of farmers to be? The need for demographic reform in European agriculture," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Shahzad, Muhammad Abid & Fischer, Christian, 2021. "The State of Other Gainful Activities in European Union-27: An Empirical Analysis of Trends and Determinant Factors," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315226, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Lee-Ann Sutherland, 2020. "Virtualizing the ‘good life’: reworking narratives of agrarianism and the rural idyll in a computer game," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1155-1173, December.
    4. Anthony M. Fuller & Siyuan Xu & Lee-Ann Sutherland & Fabiano Escher, 2021. "Land to the Tiller: The Sustainability of Family Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Sabine Gennai-Schott & Tiziana Sabbatini & Davide Rizzo & Elisa Marraccini, 2020. "Who Remains When Professional Farmers Give up? Some Insights on Hobby Farming in an Olive Groves-Oriented Terraced Mediterranean Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Simona Zollet & Keshav Lall Maharjan, 2021. "Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-24, January.

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