r
E
E
F
l
  F¤rmers’ Motivotions New Kid in Town
_ in Not all farmers are involved in agricul- -—The "marginal family farmer," Owensboro Community College got a
l` `¥ ture for the same reasons, and thus are who lacks property or skills, and values good start as UK’s 14th community col-
" i likely to be affected differently by gov- autonomy while finding it difficult to re- lege with a Fall ’86 enrollment of 1,800.
ernment farm policies, says a UK soci- main autonomous. While he may be in Classes were held last year as an exten-
@5 ologist, Patrick Mooney. a poor financial condition, he is more sion of Henderson Community College
h i While some farmers view their Oeeu- likely to stay in farming because he en- proving the need for a permanent facili-
d pation solely as a business, others are joys the lifestyle. ty. After authorization by the 1986
Ji driven more by a desire to live the agri- Mooney says farmers who are not General Assembly, plans are now mov-
ie Il cultural lifestyle. purely economically motivated may not ing ahead for construction of new facili-
P   Those in the latter category some- be helped much by government farm ties on approximately 100 acres of land
= times make decisions that seem contrary policy, because such policies tend to ig- on US 231 at Veach Road. The hiring
is V to the economists’ view of proiit- nore the "human" factor and assume of an architect to draw up plans and
te l maximization. These decisions are not that fal‘m€fS will alWayS do what is most specifications is the next item on the
2 irrational but reflect a different set of €C0¤01'¤i€&llY expedient. agenda.
j values, which Mooney referred to as MTG 3 l0t of f&fY1'1€fS, tl'1€ f1'10St impor-
- "craftship"——where work is valued as tant thing is autonomy, what they call
Dr ‘ more than merely a means to make iboiflg mY OWU b0SS,’ iiséiid Mooney.
d` mOney_ "If some action could allow them to
in "EcO¤OmjstS and policymakers [end make more money but threaten that au-
to assume that all decision-making takes tonorny, such as borrowing money for
Cr place in [hg COy)[(-jxt Of pygfit- €Xp21I1SlOI'1, SOl'l'1€ Of[l'1Cl'l'l   Cl`1OOS€ 3.l1·
rc maximization, l’m trying to show that tonomy 0V€F PYOHL
iI`_ [hg[’g ngt always [hc Cg_g€’°’ Mggngy NOHC of {ht? lI`OI'1l€S of lZl'liS is that lll
Said the current farm crisis, many of those
nc In 8 mmm Study in Wisconsin, MOC- who are surviving are the ones who did
[I" ngy idgntifigd {Our ggngyal Catgggrigs Of 1'IOt follow tl'lC €COI'IOI'1'llC I`3[lOl'l3.llty of
ic- ‘ farmers based on their motivations and tho 1970s and Wh0 dccidfid to forgo €X‘
ifs Cmnomic Wellbeing; pansion in order to avoid debt."
_ ° —The "successful family farmer,"
m who owns his property, is not financial- . L
rt- ` ly encumbered, and enjoys his work
cts both for its own sake and for the prod-
`C- , uct it yields. He is able to buy and sell
l` in a competitive market, and his work is
, an integral part of his culture, ____ _
{ —The "eeonomist`s i`armer," who      
_ owns the land (or rents it if it 1s·more    ‘¢·.E=  
f profitable to do so) and makes decisions       ff ag gl  , `Q ·
. based mainly on profit maximization.   § t l   v:/: { ' j_‘  w
l Farming for him is less a lifestyle, more   `     ` I ·
lr abusiness.   ··     ' — »» · ·
1 em     ¤S¤al‘y¤.*€¤·    
» ant or heavily 1n debt', with minimal    
skills. Farming for him 1S_]L1Si a_]ob, and   !  
because job opportunities are often W /   `  
more plentiful and lucrative elsewhere, / ”   -*/ ,/J __,>__ “ \ `
` he is likely to take part-time or full-time /,/r /_//"' // ‘ /  Y //  
l employment offthe farm. » lr, ’/ / ’   ~ ·¤
/       A l  M
T / / 7 *‘ii `
/ / p
UK 5