2025 California Small Farm Conference

In this workshop, we will unpack the meaning of “small farm,” a term that often guides discourse around social justice and ecological stewardship in agrifood systems, even as it is poorly defined.

The USDA rigidly defines “small farms” as those with less than $350,000 in gross annual income yet provides no justification for this cutoff. Additionally, “small” farms must be “family” farms, itself a thorny term that includes both sole proprietors and farms owned by family members who may not even work on the farm (in Brazil, by contrast, “family” is defined by who labors, not by ownership). More broadly, the term is used in practice and scholarship to refer to farms of wildly varied size and scale characteristics while often implying that certain social, ecological, or economic goals are prioritized, presumably distinguishing the “small” farm from large-scale agribusiness.

Being “small,” however, in no way guarantees that, by definition, a farmer operates outside agribusiness or pursues/achieves these goals. Similarly, being “large” does not by definition make a farm incapable of achieving progressive socioecological or economic goals. Who, then, do we mean by "small farmers"? What should we mean? What are the goals/values driving the term’s usage? Do we need a new definition, or different terminology altogether? Is it "smallness" we want, or is it social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability? And do these goals require “smallness,” whatever that is?

Together, we will thoughtfully consider what “small farms” we’re fighting for and why, engaging the tensions or agreements that arise.