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• 4.3.1 Farm Work
• 4.3.2 Farm Management
• 4.3.3 Farm Ownership
• 4.4.1 Careers of Work, Management and Ownership

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4.3 The Process of Entry into and Retirement from Farming

One of the issues that was explored in this study was the timing and the nature of the phases of retirement and entry of women and men. The Research interest involved testing hypotheses that:

1.	involvement in work, management and ownership are dynamic and change over 1ifecourse;
2.	that women are less involved than men in the work, management and ownership of their farms; and
3.	that retirement is a lengthy process with no clearly defined beginning or end.

4.3.1 Farm Work

Table 13 shows the changes in the percentage of farm work done by women and men in the retiring and receiving generations. Women and men in the receiving generation were asked to predict the percentage of work they might do up to age 50, while women and men in the retiring generation were asked to predict the percentage of work up to age 75.

Table 13

Perceived Percentage of Farm Work Done

Changes in the amount of farm work done by older men and women are gradual. Men in their early forties reported doing about 65% of the farm work. By their early fifties they were doing less than half of all of the labour on their farms. On average, men expect to continue to do some farm labour into their seventies, although the proportions of work they expect to be doing average less than 10% of all of the work.

Older women cite similar patterns in their farm work careers to those of their spouses. However, the percentage of farm work done by women at all ages is lower than the percentage of work done by men. Like men, women also state that their highest level of involvement in farm labour is when they are in their early forties. On average, older women report about 15% of farm work, substantially lower than the 24% reported by women in the Generations Alberta study. Women expect to be doing very little farm labour after they are sixty five. It may be that they expect their husbands to retire when the husbands are in their late sixties so that women will have little farm labour to do themselves. Presumably few are anticipating being widowed and running the farm themselves.

Younger men and women anticipate the same patterns of farm labour as they look ahead. Men expect that in their forties they will be doing about 63 % of the farm labour. Thus younger men expect to have similar phases of entry into farm labour as their fathers. Young men in this study began their farm labour at an early age. Even in their teens, they reported doing about 18% of the work on their farms. This is somewhat less than the 26% reported by receiving generation men of the same age in the Generations Alberta study. Similar to the Alberta group, these young men expect to be doing the majority of farm labour by their early thirties.

Figure 1 - Lifecycle Patterns of Farm work Done

Work patterns of young women are similar to those of other family members. They too begin their work careers in their teens, although with lower percentages of farm labour done than their spouses. These percentages may underestimate the work of women who grew up on farms. The only farm labour they were asked to report was that done on their parent's-in-law farm. Thus work they may have done as teenagers on their own parents' farm is not reported. Receiving generation women also expect that they will do the most farm work when they are in their early forties. It is interesting to note that younger women expect to do the same proportion of farm labour during their peak working years as older women report having done. It appears that younger women do not expect a greater involvement in farm labour than was done by the previous generation.

Figure 1 shows overall patterns of involvement in farm work across the lifecycle. Although the patterns of entry and exit are similar for men and women, the figure clearly indicates the larger proportion of work done by men at all ages. Nonetheless, within each age group, there was considerable variation in the percentage of work done. For example, retiring generation men aged 41-45 did as little as 5% and as much as 100% of the labour. Men's range of involvement in work narrows with age, although even at 71-75, some men expect to be doing 30% of the farm work.

Women's range of involvement is less than that of men but is still substantial. Some retiring generation women reported that in their forties they did no farm labour while others report as much as 50% of the farm labour. In our earlier research, we found that farm women label these extremes as 'homemaker' and 'the boy' (Keating & Little, 1991). The homemaker focuses her work on running the household arid does little or no farm labour. In contrast, 'the boy' does the full range of farm tasks along with her husband. In this earlier study we found that farm women at mid-life were satisfied with their level of involvement in farm labour. Those who as younger women had regretted not being more involved in the farm had developed their farm skills by the time they were in their thirties and forties. Those who remained as homemakers also were content with that role. Their only regret was that they were uninformed about the farm business and were therefore dependent on their husbands to keep the farm going.

In contrast, there was less variation in the amount of work done by women in their fifties and older. From age 50, the majority did less than 10% of farm labour. In our previous research, we have found that these work loads are typical of older women. Some have been homemakers all their lives and have not had direct input to farm labour. Others have reduced their work load as children take over and husbands move into retirement. Overall, retiring generation women did less farm labour in their middle years than did women in the Generations Alberta study. In their 50s and older, levels of involvement were very similar for the two groups of women.

Younger women in their teens and twenties have little variation in percentage of farm labour that they do. At that age most were just entering their new families. From the mid twenties to mid forties, the range is from 0 to 50%. However, for each age group, the modal percentage of work done is less than 25%. Similar to the Generations Alberta study, we found that there is a small number of younger women who expect to be doing half of the farm labour when they are in their forties. Within this group are those who are in a true working partnership in many aspects of the business with their husbands, and those who expect that they will be obliged to do a great deal of farm labour since they cannot afford farm workers. Nonetheless, overall levels of involvement are lower than those reported by receiving generation women in the Generations Alberta study.

Older men also have a broad range of percentage of farm labour. Some men in their forties do as little as 5% of farm labour, although most do 50% or more. In their fifties, the range is from 0 to as much as 80%. However, by their fifties, the majority do less than 50% of the work. There are some 'late retirees' among older men. A few men expect to be doing as much as 50% of the work in their late sixties. The reasons for late movement out of farm work may include a strong commitment to work as part of an ongoing lifestyle, a lack of confidence in the ability of children to take over, or an interest in working with farming children as they build the business. Overall, patterns of work involvement of retiring gene ration men are almost identical to those found in the Generations Alberta study.

Receiving generation men also have a wide variation in percentage of farm labour. During the early years, this variation is indicative of the fact that some men were away at school or employment during these early years while others worked closely with other family members and took over the majority of farm labour at an early age. On average, younger men expect that their involvement in farm labour will be high and stable at around 60%, from their late thirties through their forties. There is considerable variation in proportion of labour in the thirties and forties, providing a hint as to the numerous ways in which farm families provide for labour on their farms. Some men expect to be doing less labour if parents are still involved, as sons and spouses take on more, or because of off-farm employment. Others expect to continue to do 100% of the work.

4.3.2 Farm Management

We asked people to report on three aspects of farm management: production, marketing and financial. We expected that older farm men would retain control over financial management until late in their careers since sound financial management is fundamental to running the business. In contrast, transfer of production management to farming children is expected to occur earlier as part of the younger farmer's apprenticeship. Findings from the Generations Alberta study suggested that women would be most involved in financial management. Tables 14, 15 and 16 show percentages of different types of management done by the retiring and receiving generations.

Mean levels of management were high for men in their forties. On average, men reported doing over 80% of production, marketing and financial management. Women of the same age had low average levels of management involvement. Highest involvement was in financial management with averages of 12 to 13%. Women in the Generations Alberta study also did more financial management than other types of management. Levels of financial management by Alberta women were higher at 22% of financial management.

Table 14

Perceived Percentage of Production Management Done                            

	Retiring Generation				Receiving Generation
	Female		Male		Female		Male
	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %
15-20					0.00	000	6.10	0-45
21-25					0.38	0-10	22.35	0-100
26-30					2.33	0-50	48.04	0-100
31-35					3.80	0-50	64.49	20-100
36-40					7.70	0-50	72.70	25-100
41-45	8.00	0-100	89.40	0-100	9.50	0-50	78.06	25-100
46-50	5.75	0-75	85.00	25-100	10.20	0-50	79.30	20-100
51-55	3.75	0-50	69.11	10-100
56-60	2,22	0-33	47.59	0-100
61-65	1.46	0-25	30.34	0-90
66-70	1.15	0-25	14.94	0-50
71-75	0.92	0-25	6.86	0-50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 15

Perceived Percentage of Marketing Management Done

	Retiring Generation				Receiving Generation
	Female		Male		Female		Male
	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %
15-20					0.00	000	4.85	0-45
21-25					0.38	0-10	21.18	0-100
26-30					2.56	0-50	44.59	0-100
31-35					4.90	0-50	62.67	20-100
36-40					9.08	0-50	71.73	20-100
41-45	7.05	0-100	92.24	50-100	10.92	0-50	78.37	25-100
46-50	5.90	0-75	86.79	0-100	12.25	0-50	79.51	25-100
51-55	3.45	0-50	71.76	0-100
56-60	2.48	0-33	45.87	0-100
61-65	1.91	0-33	28.53	0-90
66-70	1.61	0-33	15.37	0-50
71-75	1.24	0-33	7.26	0-40

Table 16

Perceived Percentage of Financial Management Done

	Retiring Generation				Receving Generation
	Female		Male		Female		Male
	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %
15-20					0.00	000	2.91	0-35
21-25					1.08	0-13	16.00	0-100
26-30					6.62	0-50	38.86	0-100
31-35					10.76	0-50	57.39	20-100
36-40					15.86	0-50	65.94	25-100
41-45	13.00	0-65	85.99	15-100	19.16	0-50	73.19	25-100
46-50	12.46	0-70	83.44	tS-l00	20.58	0-50	74.97	25-100
51-55	8.90	0-75	71.62	0-100
56-60	6.54	0-50	51.11	0-90
61-65	4.39	0-45	32.39	0-80
66-70	3.30	0-45	19.21	0-50
71-75	2.24	0-33	10.23	0-50

Older men do progressively less management after their forties. From their forties to their early sixties, they reduced all of their management responsibilities to approximately 30%. Nonetheless, some men expected to continue to do have substantial management of their farms into their mid sixties and beyond. At this age a few men still expect to be doing 50% of the management of their farms.

Older women have had very little involvement in production or marketing management throughout their farming careers. It seems that production aspects of agriculture continue to be part of men's domain. Women report more mid-career involvement in financial management than in other areas, but overall levels are low.

Younger men report having a small amount of management responsibility in their teens: 6% production, 5% marketing and 3% financial. These proportions of management involvement are smaller than those of receiving generation men of the same age in the Generations Alberta study (13% production, 10% marketing and 9% financial). Similar to those in the Generations Alberta study, receiving generation men expect to be doing the majority of all the marketing, production and financial management by the time they are in their early thirties. Given the expectations of retiring generation farmers concerning maintaining management control, seems unlikely that transfer of management can meet the expectations of both generations.

Similar to farm work, within each age group, there was also considerable variation in the percentage of management done. Among women in the retiring generation, involvement in management ranges from 0 to 100%. However, with rare exceptions, the majority of women had little or no involvement in management. For example, while retiring men are at the peak of their management careers in their forties, 60% of retiring women did no production or marketing management at that age. Half did no financial management. Retiring generation women are less involved in management than their Alberta counterparts. Of the latter group, almost 20% say they are full partners who do 50% of financial management. Among the New Zealand women, we see evidence that more have remained focused on their household roles.

While younger women generally expect to be more involved in management, the variation in their current and predicted amount of management Shows that many expect virtually no involvement while a few expect to be full partners. As they look ahead to their forties, 50% of women expect no involvement in production or marketing management. Only 4% and 8% expect a 50% share of production and marketing. Women expect to be more involved in financial management. Twenty two percent expect to be doing half of the financial management when they are in their early forties. The homemaker versus farmer dichotomy seen in older women is apparent among younger women as well. While a few expect to be very involved in farm management, others see themselves as continuing to be outside of the management of the business.

Older men's involvement in management also varies considerably. In their early fifties, half of the men are doing 60% or more of the management. However, only 12% still have full management control and a few have transferred all decision making to the next generation.

Younger men's variation in amount of management is accounted for in part by their gradual assumption of management responsibility as they take over the farm. A few men say that they are doing 100% of the management by the time they are in their early twenties, although half are doing 20% or less. Most predict that by the time they are in their forties, they will be doing approximately 70% of the management. However, even during that decade when most older people are at the peak of the management careers, a few receiving generation men expect to be doing no management at all.

4.3.3 Farm Ownership

Of all aspects of farming, older farmers are least likely to retire' from ownership of their farms. Table 17 shows that even in their seventies, men expect to control about 14% of the ownership of their farms. In their early forties, men owned an average of 65 % of their farms and expected a gradual reduction in percentage owned. Women in the retiring generation owned approximately 14% of their farms when they were in their early forties but expected to own only 5 % when they were in their seventies. It is surprising that women do not expect a larger stake in ownership of their farms when they are in their seventies since this is the age at which women are most likely to own land because of widowhood. In looking ahead, these women either did not consider inheriting the farm when their spouse (lied, did not consider being widowed, or there were arrangements that children would inherit when the father died.

Table 17

Perceived Percentage of Ownership

	Retiring Generation				Receiving Generation
	Female		Male		Female		Male
	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %	Mean %	Range %
15-20					0.00	000	4.69	0-50
21-25					0.81	0-30	11.76	5-60
26-30					3.98	0-50	24.49	0-100
31-35					12.11	0-50	39.47	0-100
36-40					20.88	0-50	49.48	0-100
41-45	14,41	0-50	65.49	0-100	26.98	0-50	55.24	0-100
46-50	17.39	0-55	56.84	0-100	30.19	0-50	59.52	0-100
51-55	21.04	0-55	46.54	0-100
56-60	16.46	0-50	34.90	0-100
61-65	11.89	0-50	27.79	0-67
66-70	9.04	0-50	19.73	0-67
71-75	5.40	0-50	14.25	0-60

Young men and women had small percentages of legal ownership of their farms when they were in their teens and early twenties. However, by their mid-twenties, young men had increased their proportion of ownership of the farm to about 25%. They expected to own half the farm (49%) by their late thirties. Women expected that the peak of their legal ownership would be about 30% when they were in their late forties. This is a higher percentage ownership than women in the retiring generation (17%) and suggests that young women expect a higher proportion of ownership of their farms than older women have had.

4.4 Cohort Differences in Work, Management and Ownership

In each of the tables on work, management and ownership, two age categories are highlighted. The age groups 41-45 and 45-50 are the 'overlap decade'. Retiring generation women and men were asked to estimate their level of involvement when they were that age. Receiving generation women and men were asked to look ahead and anticipate the involvement they expected to have in these areas. Age 40 to 50 was chosen since that is the decade of peak levels of involvement in the business. Comparison of these estimates provides an opportunity to consider whether there are likely to be cohort differences in the ways in which two generations of men and women are involved in their farms.

Table 18 shows the results of a series of one-way analyses of variance comparing retiring and receiving generation women and retiring and receiving generation men on estimates of levels of involvement during their forties.

Table 18

Cohort Differences in Work, Management and Ownership Age 40-45, 46-50

(ONE-WAY ANOVAS)

	Age 40-45		Age 46-50
	PF1 vs. CF2	PM3 vs. CM4	PF vs. CF	PM vs. CM
Work	p=.56	p=.43	p=.17	p=.32
Production Management	p=.62	p=00a	p=.10	p=.11
Marketing Management	p=.21	p=00a	p=.03b	=.04a
Financial Management	p=.08	p=00a	p=.02b	p=.03a
Ownership	p=.0lb	p=.05	p=.00b	p=.61

1 Retiring generation female ("Parent Female")

2 Receiving generation female ("Chi1d Female")

3 Retiring generation male ("Parent Male")

4 Receiving generation male ("Child Male")

^a Retiring generation male significantly higher than receiving generation male

^b Receiving generation female significantly higher than retiring generation female

There were no significant differences in estimates of amount of work by generation. Young women expect to be doing similar amounts of farm labour to their mothers-in-law and young men expect to be doing the same amount of work as their fathers. However, there were significant cohort differences in involvement in management and ownership. Overall, receiving generation women expected to be doing more management and to have a larger share of ownership than their mothers-in-law. In contrast, receiving generation men expected to be less involved in management than their fathers.

Cohort differences in management suggest that the receiving generation may be moving toward increased sharing of management responsibilities. In general, younger women expect to be doing a larger proportion of management and younger men a smaller proportion than is the case for the retiring generation. However, expectations concerning involvement in management are not the same across all management types. Receiving women do not expect to be more involved in production management, although receiving men expect to be doing less, at least in their early 40s.

It is interesting to speculate who are the people with whom receiving generation men expect to share production management decisions. Further analysis showed that they do not expect their wives to be more involved in production management. It is possible that receiving generation men expect to involve their own sons in management at an earlier age than they were involved. Women may view production management as part of the male domain and be disinterested or feel that they will not be able to gain access to more of these decisions.

Receiving generation women expect to be more involved in marketing in their late forties than their mothers-in-law have been. And receiving generation men expect to be less involved than their fathers. However, similar to production management, receiving generation men do not expect their wives to be more involved in marketing. In this aspect of management, women may be expecting more equitable sharing of management with their husbands who in turn are expecting to share management with their sons, or perhaps with their fathers who have not yet retired.

Finally, women also expect to be more involved in financial management in their forties than were their mothers-in-law. Here again, men do not have similar expectations. It appears that while women are looking forward to being partners with their husbands in marketing and financial management, men are not expecting their wives to be any more involved in these aspects of the business than their mothers have been.

Expectations concerning ownership are not symmetrical among younger men and women. While receiving women expect to own significantly greater proportions of their farms than did their mothers-in-law, their husbands do not expect to own less. Ownership may well become a contentious issue for this generation of couples whose expectations concerning business involvement do not appear to be congruent.

4.4.1 Careers of Work, Management and Ownership

Men move into farming more quickly and have greater farm responsibilities at the peak of their farm careers. Men's highest levels of involvement in work and management are in their early forties, while ownership involvement peaks in the late forties. Women move into the business more slowly and have substantially lower levels of involvement across all aspects of the business throughout their lives. Nonetheless, women 5 patterns of involvement are similar to those of men. They too have highest levels of involvement in work and management in their early forties and ownership in their late forties.

Cohort differences in the 'overlap decade' ages 40-50 can also be seen in these figures. Younger men expect to be less involved in management than their fathers have been, while younger women expect to be more involved in marketing and financial management and ownership than the retiring females.

The variation in work, management and ownership among people at different age groups shows that there is no single pattern of entry into or exit from farming. In two-generation family farms such as these, variation is likely to be great, since the transfer of a farm is dependent upon the willingness and ability of the older generation to retire and the availability of and willingness of a younger member to take over. Transfer and succession are continuous processes which occur throughout life and cannot be easily measured in numbers of years. In previous research (Keating & Little, 1991), it was found that the transfer of the farm can take from three to twenty years. Although the process of retirement from work, management and ownership is consistent across farms, the length of time and age of participants differs greatly.

Contact for Enquiries

Rural Affairs Coordinator
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Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
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NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 4 894 0675
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