Abstract
Small farms (identified by statistical services as farms with a standard output of less than 25000€) are relatively unknown and condemned to disappear by French and European agricultural modernization policies. In the 2010 agricultural census, 178 000 farms are counted as small farms, representing more than 36% of metropolitan French farms. In the first chapter, we present a statistical description of small farms in comparison with medium and large farms. Small farms are mostly run by elderly farmers with low levels of education/training who work half-time on the farm and have little additional workforce. In the second chapter, we implement a typology of small farms using a mixed classification method. We obtain five different groups and deduce potential strategies developed by small farms. These strategies are partially confirmed by the study of different small farms trajectories between 2000 and 2010. We find farmers close to cessation of farming, as well as farmers in the setting-up stage and farmers who are not in a transition phase. This statistical analysis is completed in the third chapter by field surveys. The first survey is administered in less favored areas of the Baronnies of the Pyrénées, and the second one in the peri-urban area of Montpellier. These surveys are complemented by statistical data from the 2010 agricultural census to assess the environmental, social and economic contributions of small farms. The fourth chapter focuses on the Common Agricultural Policy. With the enlargement of the EU, small farms found a place in political discourse. We suggest ways of adapting the 2014-2020 CAP support schemes to small farms. We study the Small Farms Scheme and its advantages as a simplified scheme involving an unconditional flat-rate. We then review measures to favour employment in small farms and measures to facilitate setting-up and access to agricultural land.