The rationale of part-time farming: empirical evidence from Norway

Outside farming, pluriactivity is generally considered as undesirable, whereas agricultural economists tend to recommend part-time farming. This contradiction is to be solved. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Linking tax-payer and statistical farm-level data from Norway, the authors tested how profitable part-time farming is for Norwegian farm households.

The analysis showed that concentrating on either working on-farm or off-farm generates a higher household income than combining the two.

Part-time farming may be a lifestyle decision, but apparently is not economically optimal for most farms.

The contribution solves an apparent contradiction between the discourses inside and outside agriculture.