Ownership and Control of Resources by Minorities and Small Farmers in the South

Small farm operators in the South owned about 20 percent of farm land in 1909. They operated over 15 percent of the land in farms and held over 18 percent of the value of land and buildings in addition to about 19 percent of market value of machinery and equipment. These same small farmers represented 49 percent of all farm operators yet they contributed less than 4 percent of farm product sales. Although their importance in the market place as measured by farm sales is negligible they do own and control a significant share of the farm resources. As decisionmakers about resource use and allocation, both human and physical, they should command a share of the research communities attention, and appropriate weight in planning and policy regarding resources. This paper emphasizes the importance of small farmers and identifies differences by race from the perspective of equality of ownership and control. Minorities do not own or control as much as do whites. However there are significant relative differences by race and minority small farmers hold a larger portion of all minority owned and controlled resources than do white small farmers. Research directed at policy, programs, problems, status, and perspectives on and about resources should account for differences between all resource owners. Making such distinctions would enhance the capability of analysis to identify and evaluate distributional effects of public policies and programs.