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Treating Farms as Firms? the Evolution of Farm Business Support from Productionist to Entrepreneurial Models

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  • Jeremy Phillipson
  • Matthew Gorton
  • Marian Raley
  • Andrew Moxey

Abstract

Farming enterprises throughout the European Union have traditionally been treated very differently by the state compared with their nonagricultural counterparts. Agricultural activities have been governed by a separate set of policy objectives, political institutions, and support agencies. However, this agricultural ‘exceptionalism’ is being steadily eroded as markets are partially liberalised, farmers are encouraged to pursue new forms of economic activity, and as government institutions are reformed. Farmers are being encouraged to see themselves as ‘entrepreneurs' to face fundamentally changed markets. There is, therefore, renewed attention to the existing levels of generic business skills within the farming sector and to the nature and effectiveness of business advice and support frameworks in enhancing these skills. The paper investigates the extent to which farmers have experienced different patterns of business support use and perceive themselves as having different generic skills needs in comparison with other rural microbusinesses and considers the attractiveness of different models of delivering business advice to the sector. A review is undertaken of the evolution of rural business support in England together with an analysis of data from a survey of almost 1800 rural microbusinesses in the northeast of England. It is concluded that there are a number of significant challenges facing the adjustment of the farm sector towards a more entrepreneurial model of business development arising from the sector's legacy of separation and exceptionalism within the support framework. In order to help encourage the development of generic business skills an ‘intermediary’ model of business advice is advocated, in which an intermediary agency acts as a bridge between farms and generic business support providers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Phillipson & Matthew Gorton & Marian Raley & Andrew Moxey, 2004. "Treating Farms as Firms? the Evolution of Farm Business Support from Productionist to Entrepreneurial Models," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 22(1), pages 31-54, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:22:y:2004:i:1:p:31-54
    DOI: 10.1068/c0238
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Barnes, Andrew P. & Thomson, Steven G. & Ferreira, Joana, 2020. "Disadvantage and economic viability: characterising vulnerabilities and resilience in upland farming systems," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
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    3. Klerkx, Laurens & Leeuwis, Cees, 2008. "Institutionalizing end-user demand steering in agricultural R&D: Farmer levy funding of R&D in The Netherlands," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 460-472, April.
    4. Ke Zheng & Yufeng Li & Chaodang Wu, 2022. "How Do the Chinese New Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Talents Drive the Business Model Innovation of Agricultural Business Organizations? Case Study Based on Grounded Research," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13, March.
    5. May, Daniel E., 2015. "Behavioural Drivers of Business Competitiveness in Agriculture," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22.
    6. Somayeh Tohidyan Far & Kurosh Rezaei-Moghaddam, 2019. "Multifunctional agriculture: an approach for entrepreneurship development of agricultural sector," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, December.
    7. Maria Paula Escobar & David Demeritt, 2017. "Paperwork and the decoupling of audit and animal welfare: The challenges of materiality for better regulation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(1), pages 169-190, February.
    8. Klerkx, Laurens & Leeuwis, Cees, 2008. "Matching demand and supply in the agricultural knowledge infrastructure: Experiences with innovation intermediaries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 260-276, June.
    9. Emilio Pindado & Mercedes Sánchez, 2017. "Researching the entrepreneurial behaviour of new and existing ventures in European agriculture," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 421-444, August.
    10. Vasile Alecsandru Strat & Adriana AnaMaria Davidescu & Raluca Mariana Grosu & Ion-Daniel Zgura, 2016. "Regional Development Fueled by Entrepreneurial Ventures Providing KIBS – Case Study on Romania," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 18(41), pages 1-55, February.
    11. Brunella Arru & Roberto Furesi & Fabio A. Madau & Pietro Pulina, 2021. "Economic performance of agritourism: an analysis of farms located in a less favoured area in Italy," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Chris Phelan & Richard Sharpley, 2012. "Exploring entrepreneurial skills and competencies in farm tourism," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(2), pages 103-118, March.
    13. Neil Lyee & Marc Cowling, 2015. "Do Rural Firms Perceive Different Problems? Geography, Sorting, and Barriers to Growth in UK SMEs," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(1), pages 25-42, February.
    14. Sebastiano Cupertino & Gianluca Vitale & Angelo Riccaboni, 2018. "L?impatto dei Big Data sulle attivit? di pianificazione & controllo aziendali: In caso di studio di una PMI agricola Italiana," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(3), pages 59-86.
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    16. Marcello De Rosa & Luca Bartoli & Teresa Del Giudice & Yari Vecchio, 2022. "Conducive Environments and Entrepreneurial Access to Rural Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Shadbolt, Nicola M. & Olubode-Awosola, Femi, 2016. "Resilience, Risk and Entrepreneurship," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1-20, May.
    18. Kilelu, Catherine W. & Klerkx, Laurens & Leeuwis, Cees & Hall, Andy, 2011. "Beyond knowledge brokerage: An exploratory study of innovation intermediaries in an evolving smallholder agricultural system in Kenya," MERIT Working Papers 2011-022, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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