Small Production and State Intervention in Agriculture

Abstract

The rapid accumulation of state functions in agriculture during this century is a new kind of phenomenon in our history. It is also a process common to all developed capitalist countries in Europe. This article concentrates on the main features of agricultural policies in Finland, in order to illustrate the socio-economic reasons behind state intervention in agriculture. Production, income and structural policies all have, besides agricultural, also more general social and economic goals But mechanisms exist that counteract the attainment of these goals Capitalization of subsidies to land prices, differentiation as a cause and as a consequence of policies, and rising accumulation threshold are considered It is suggested that expanded repro duction is inevitable for family farms and that generation change is a most critical point of the reproduction process. Thus it also is a most strategic object for state intervention.