2025 Volume 71 Issue 3 Pages 115-
The aim of this research is to clarify how the economic independence of agricultural corporations is secured by analyzing the conditions that have enabled agricultural corporations to expand their scale and reorganize the use of farmland, using the city of Osaki in Miyagi Prefecture as a case study.
In Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, voluntary crop-rotation associations have been the main players in agricultural land use, but since the second half of the 2000s, agricultural corporations have emerged as the main players in agricultural land use. The S Corporation in the Sanbongi Town, which is the subject of this survey, began expanding its scale early on by accumulating agricultural land with relatively poor cultivation conditions where field improvement had not been carried out. However, with regard to the area for rice production adjustment that increased in line with the expansion of scale, they had no choice but to rent farmland that had already been developed with drainage facilities for crop-rotation. The S Corporation secured farmland for crop-rotation by adding the subsidy to the rent, but the high rent was the largest expenses in its production costs.
In the 2020s, the number of farmers leaving the industry increased in the region, and crop-rotation associations were dissolved. In response to this, The S Corporation returned farmland in remote areas and reduced rent. As a result, The S Corporation was able to consolidate its scattered fields and improve its income and expenditure. The S Corporation secured its economic independence by strategically expanding its scale while taking advantage of regional conditions such as the conditions of farmland, regional responses to rice production adjustments, and differences in the speed of formation of farmland supply.
