What Makes a Small Farm Successful? A Review of Success Factors, Needs, and Challenges

Authors

• Katie Tritsch, Texas State UniversityFollow
• Ken Mix, Texas State UniversityFollow
• Michelle L. Edwards, Texas State UniversityFollow
• Manuel Piña Jr., Texas A&M UniversityFollow

Volume

59

Issue

2

DOI

10.34068/joe.59.02.18

Abstract

Small-scale farmers face unique challenges. In this review, we conceptualize small farm success by aggregating and categorizing results from recent (post-2000) literature on small farm success factors and producer needs assessments. Our findings suggest that small farm success is multifaceted and not limited to profitability. We find that small farms have a diverse range of needs, though little has been done to rank their importance. We conclude that future research would benefit from increased methodological transparency and a systematic approach to needs evaluation. We consider the role of Extension professionals regarding the continued success of small farms.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Tritsch, K., Mix, K., Edwards, M. L., & Piña, M. (2021). What Makes a Small Farm Successful? A Review of Success Factors, Needs, and Challenges. Journal of Extension, 59(2), Article 18. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.59.02.18