Transitions and Prospects for Japanese Family Farms

Abstract

This paper aims to consider the problems of the full-time farming family. I analyze recent farming family changes by using micro data from the Agriculture and Forestry census results for 2005 and 2010. For the analysis, I focus on family farms with farm products sale of more than 15 million yen. The main findings of this study are as follows:
1) Many family farming managers were born during the so-called “baby-boom generation” between 1947 and 1950. People born after 1950 worked in industries other than agriculture due to the high economic growth after the war. As a result, the number of family farming managers is bolstered by the generation born between 1947 and 1950.
2) It is difficult to transfer the farm business to the next generation. By 2010, everyone in the “baby-boom generation” has passed the age of 59. Many of these family farm managers have a hard time transitioning the farm business to the next generation.
3) While the numbers of family farms decreased, the average size of the family farm has increased between 2005 and 2010. Family farms are expanding their employment.
4) Farm management that has extended its scale tends to work on affiliated businesses such as direct marketing and farm products processing.
These results suggest that it has become difficult to expand the scale of full-time farm family. As a measure, the role of a company corporation to compliment the family farm may become important in the future.