Implications of Vertical Integration for Farm Production Processes

Report Summary: Over the next 10 to 20 years farmers are not likely to lose much, if any, management control over the production processes carried out on their farms. Instead of farm operators tending to become more like hired men with less management skill required, the successful commercial farmers will have to constantly increase their management ability. The number of decisions may or may not increase by the scope and complexity will undoubtedly be greater. The successful farm producers will he those who tend to the most successful at coordinating the quantity and quality of their farm production with the production of the agri-business non-farm firms. In other words, successful farming will come from doing the best job of keeping a balance in producing what the market wants and keeping down production costs. However, this has been an important element in successful farming for a long time. The only new aspect is that coordination becomes increasingly important as specialization increases.