| Scope and Method of Study. A decline in rural migration in the United States has been a concern to many for the last few decades. Simultaneously, corporate agriculture has grown its market share to dominate the industry. Given the dependence of many rural communities on agricultural employment, this study examines if there exists a link between the rise in corporate agriculture and decline in rural migration. The changing structure of farms from small, family-owned to large, non-family-owned corporate farms is a possible explanation for population loss in rural communities. Corporate farming is defined by three measures in this study: legal status, production levels and net income. The use of average treatment effects and these three measures allow the researcher to discern if farm size, ownership or profitability of farms drives population change for rural areas. The results of this analysis should determine the relationship between farm structure and population change so that communities can devise effective, local policies to address the issue.;Findings and Conclusions. This study shows changing farm structure does, in fact, cause rural population change. More specifically, it shows that farm size has had a small but significant positive impact on rural population. The impact of corporate farms affects the residents in the community and influences their decisions to remain in the community or to relocate. Farms have continued to grow in some form through the 1900s and 2000s, and there seemed to be a slight skewing of the farm distribution toward very small farms and very large farms. As communities face these new trends in agriculture, they should be ready with appropriate policies to maximize the impact agriculture can have on the local economy. Rural communities should embrace the entrance and existence of large farms that will ultimately lead to increased population, supported by the results in this study. They can do this by creating additional employment opportunities for family members of people employed by large, corporate farms, increase marketing efforts to new residents and tailor the goods provided in the community to the needs of the large farm and its employees. At the same time, rural community leaders should use the results to create and support policies that preserve ties to the local community. |
