Management of Small Rural Holdings as Economic and Ecological Units

View the project final report

• 2000 annual report

Commodities

Practices

• Farm Business Management: whole farm planning, new enterprise development, community-supported agriculture, cooperatives, marketing management, value added
• Sustainable Communities: urban/rural integration

The project produced a research agenda concerning small land holdings from a joint environmental-economic prospective. This was accomplished through a collaborative planning effort involving landholders with 5-50 acres, resource and economic planners, and environmental groups. Regional meetings were conducted to discuss economic, resource, and ecological problems faced by the small landowners. The geographic focus was the panhandle, Florida-Georgia border, and central Florida counties that represent the Southern Coastal Plain. The result of the project is a research agenda for small landholders, increased awareness and communication between the concerned groups, and a source book with information relevant to small land holdings.

The project produced a research agenda concerning small land holdings from a joint environmental-economic perspective. In regional meetings, landholders, resource and economic planners, and environmental groups discussed economic, resource and ecological problems faced by the landholders in order to identify a relevant agenda for future research. The geographic focus was the panhandle, Florida-Georgia border, and central Florida counties that represent the Southern Coastal Plain. The region also shares a water resource that is important to the ecological and economic activities of the region. To date, little information has been available to small landholders concerning the management of property of 5-50 acres as economic and ecological units. The information gathered in the regional meetings addresses the concerns of those who manage resource use on a regional or sub regional basis in conjunction with property owners and is valuable to both sets of parties. The result of the project is a research agenda for small landholders, increased awareness and communication between the concerned groups, and a source book with information relevant to small land holdings. The ultimate goal of this project and future research is to assist small farmers to improve production and marketing of traditional and alternative agricultural and rural commodities, improve awareness and communication between the concerned groups, and generate greater choices for consumers.

Funds requested will support a planning project to identify problems and potential solutions which will result in the design of a full proposal. The planning project will develop recommendations for research designed to build a body of knowledge for the management of small holdings as economic and ecological units. The specific objectives of the proposed planning project are to:

1. Identify and evaluate key problems of small holders from the landholders point of view and that of those in the public sector and quasi public sector responsible for resource planning

2. Identify research issues for environmental conservation techniques suitable for the small landholder

3. Identify information requirements concerning potentially remunerative alternatives for small holders and catalogue and summarize (at least) 20 relevant documents

4. Identify and evaluate economic and ecological opportunities and barriers for new and existing small farmers, and

5. Prepare a document that will summarize the discussion and findings of the planning project