Employment History and Off-Farm Employment of Farm Operators

Employment history affects subsequent choices. Based on their original job choice, operators are divided into farmers and workers. Equations are estimated to determine their probabilities of working off-the-farm. Education increases the probability that workers work off-the-farm, whereas vocational training increases farmers ’ probability. ‘lIre probability of working off-the-farm decreases as unearned income increases, and its impact on workers is larger than on farmers. An employed spouse increases the probability that farmers work off-the-farm, but has the opposite impact for workers. Employment density increases the probability that workers will work off-the-farm. Key Words: off-farm employment, part-time farming, small farms Much of the literature on off-the-farm work by farm families begins with a discussion of whether farm families are being pushed off the farm by farm debts or pulled off the farm by better economic opportunities (Fuguitt, 1958; Buttel, 1982