This study aims to clarify the support system for small family farms (SFFs) in the U.S. So far, SFFs have gotten scarcely any direct support from the public sector, while large-scale farms that grow targeted program crops have received large subsidies. Nowadays, SFFs are expected to build a new local food system by providing safe food. So, maintaining SFFs is perceived as one way for assisting U.S. agriculture.
I start this paper by describing the American social welfare service system, because it is part of the basic structure of the SFF support system. Then, I characterize U.S. society as a mixed welfare society, which means that both the public and private sectors provide services to citizens. Next, three cases are analyzed from a viewpoint of actual activities that provide support to SFFs. At the end, a theory of the support system for SFFs is presented that flows from the case study results.
The conclusions are as follows. First, non-profit support organizations help make the competitive grant programs efficient by means of employing professional staffs who can get competitive grants that are used to support the programs. Second, SFFs are linked to each other in a network to reduce the risk of failing to obtain competitive grants. The network works as a “safety-net.” Third, advocacy organizations have an important role in prompting the public sector to make effective and appropriate policy and grant programs for SFFs. Finally, I conclude that the combination of non-profit organizations and competitive grants make the support for SFFs efficient and effective under small budgets and in a mixed welfare society such as the U.S.

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The number of farmland renters and leases are increasing in number against a background of farm household aging in recent years of the Hokkaido paddy field zone. The deployment of large-scale management through leased-land accumulation is particularly active in the Kamikawa central area.
However, these management structures are formed through the accumulation of leases in two or more rural communities. Therefore, the decentralization of farmland becomes a problem. On the other hand, public organization play a role in farmland adjustment in Toma-town. In this way, the creation of contiguous farmland has been achieved through the connection of leased land.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the factors that contribute to farmland relocation in Kamikawa center area’s Toma-town. The analysis results are as follows.
First of all, the differentiation of the farmer hierarchy composition can be pointed out. The differentiation and the selection of the leasing farmers has widened while the number of renter farms has been limited. On the other hand, it also has been easy for large-scale management to relocate farmland.
Next, the characteristics of the rural society are pointed out. One characteristic has been the non-fixed nature of the relationship between borrowers and lenders. That is, it has been a characteristic of the relationship that social relations are often reconnected. A second characteristic is how farmland ownership has been recognized as a productive resources by both borrowers and lenders. A third characteristic is that the function of the rural community to restrict individual farmers is weak. Therefore, adjustments by public organizations have directly influenced individual farmers.

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