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B795: Production, Marketing, Socieconomic Characteristics And The Perceived Needs Of Maine's Small Farmers, Neil C. Buitenhuys, Alan S. Kezis

Bulletins

For nearly 30 years small scale farming was considered inefficient and undesirable. Small farmers found it increasingly difficult to compete with large operators in the market place because of insufficient produce quantity, the seasonal nature of their production, and lack of marketing information . During this period, large commercial farmers moved to higher levels of management sophistication and use of modern production technology. The market system also became more sophisticated because of mass marketing of agricultural products, monocultural production techniques,and highly advanced assembly and distribution systems.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, it became evident that consumers' food buying …