STRONG COMMUNITIES - STRONG FARMS: WHAT IS THE CONNECTION?

Organizers of the 1988 NC-181 Regional Research Committee meeting asked me to discuss the relationships between farm structure and rural communities. My discussion will have three parts. First, what are the general economic conditions in rural America in the mid-1980s? Second, what effect does farm structure have on rural communities? Finally, does the local rural economic environment affect the structure and financial conditions of the local farming sector