Development Committees and are generally involved in helping to

formulate responses to the needs expressed and in planning for

future activities.

The National Rural Center Small Farms Project

 The National Rural Center (NRC) is a private, non-profit cor-

poration established to "develop policy alternatives and to provide

information which can help rural people improve the quality of life

in their communities." Small farm issues were selected by NRC as a

major policy development effort in the belief that small-scale

farming can provide an option for earning income and that many

people want to exercise that option.

 A project was developed by NRC to enhance the level of know-

ledge about problems facing small-scale farm families and to pro-

vide information which would be helpful to policy makers in

deciding what approaches government ought to take toward helping

families living on small farms.

 Although still in process, this NRC project has helped to (1)

clarify problems facing small-scale farmers, (2) identify research

needs which have not been adequately addressed, and (3) suggest

national program changes and policy initiatives which are supported

by existing research and past experience to enhance small farm

viability. 15/


1/ National Rural Center, Toward a Federal Small Farms Policy,
 Phase I: Barriers to Increasing On-Farm Income, NRC Report
 No. 9, Washington, D.C. (Noveber 17, 1978); and J. Patrick
 Madden and Heather Tischbein, "Toward an Agenda for Small
 Farm Research a Preliminary Report," presented to AAEA
 annual meeting, Pullman, Washington (July 30 August 1, 1979).
 The committee benefited greatly from early draft papers of
 Phase II of the NRC small farms project.