Premium
Images of Success: How Illinois Farmers Define the Successful Farmer 1
Author(s) -
Walter Gerry
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.1997.tb00644.x
Subject(s) - agriculture , agrarian society , marketing , agricultural economics , business , sociology , agricultural science , economic growth , economics , geography , environmental science , archaeology
Abstract Farmers' views of farming success help frame their responses to information about farming, including alternative agriculture. A Q‐analysis of 68 commercial farmers' subjective images of the successful farmer and the relative importance they accord different personal values and characteristics revealed four “model” images of the successful farmer. The Steward recognizes a moral responsibility to sustain land resources; the Manager succeeds largely by virtue of analytical skill; the Conservative's main goal is long‐term preservation of the farm business; and the Agrarian values the rural life style and community participation. Farmers holding the Steward image tended to be older and to farm fewer acres; those with the Manager image included a large proportion of less experienced farmers. Approximately 40 percent of the farmers' views of success did not fit any of the four “model” images. Analysis of the findings suggests that images of success may be associated with life stage or generational differences in farming goals and values.