-- An agricultural system that permits small farms provides the

 opportunity for persons to choose small-scale farming or to

 combine farming with off-farm employment as a life style.

 -- Assistance to small-scale farmers will promote better management

 and more effective use of a significant body of the Nation's

 natural resources (pp. 36-37).

6. Small farm research, extension, and teaching should not be undertaken

 -- to significantly affect the food supply, or

 -- for purposes of altering the number of farms producing most of

 this Nation's food and fiber (p. 38)

7. Success of a small farm effort should be measured by

 -- The number of small-scale farm families whose real earned farm and

 nonfarm income increases, with greater emphases given to raising

 all farm families above the poverty level.

 Number of small-scale farmers who perceive that their quality of

 life has improved.

 -- Reduction is underemployed rural human resources.

 A long-term measure is success or goal, given the above rationale of a

 small farm program, might be expressed as follows: There are few in

 society who want to farm that are prohibited from earning at least a

 part of their income from farming as a result of artificial barriers

 to entry such as a lack of available technology or access to technical

 advice, and there are few, if any, producers of agricultural products

 whose earned farm and ncnfarm income is below their aspiration, given

 their propensity to work (ideally this would be equal to or greater

 than the median nonmetropolitan income) (pp. 41-42).


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