Small farms in Italy between decline and innovative formula: an entrepreneurial model analysis

During the three-year period of our investigation, we found that the weight of family run farms declined and there was an increase in the role of farms integrated in the market and in integrated low-impact farm. This is a partial change which may be an indicator of a greater capacity of the entrepreneurial fabric to come to the market and the ability to capitalise on the relationship between farm and territory. Comparison between the two periods observing the behaviour of common farmers confirmed the substantial stability of the reference framework and offered further scope for interpretation. First, only about 22% changed their strategic profile. Shifts between strategic profiles especially affected family-run farms and light weighted specialised farms (17%). In particular, there was a major shift from the family-run type to the small, specialised farm. By contrast, the shift from the area of specialisation to the family-run type was less marked, and mostly concerned farms situated in marginal areas with less labour employed on the farm. Another element to be taken into consideration is that the second strategic profile, which has a positive balance of some importance, is that of integrated low-impact farms.