Comparative Analysis of Agriculture Systems in the EU and US

Introduction 

The US and EU make the world’s biggest producers, consumers, and trading entities of agriculture. The two have diverse farming systems and a bilateral trade relationship that remain among one of the largest in the world. The two further compete for export markets for their agricultural products. The entire makeup of the agricultural commodities by the two countries together with the productivity and competitiveness determines the distinct levels of composition and farming systems in the US and the EU. Agricultural sectors in both countries have undergone significant structural changes with resulting fewer and larger farms courtesy of consolidation and exit from the area. The following paper comparatively analyzes the agricultural systems in the US and the EU. 

It is well to appreciate that the comparisons made look at the statistical differences with the important emphasis on the primary indicators of the economy, trade, and agriculture. The EU is considered a single entity in a bid to make the comparisons, and the US is a federal republic with 50 states and one district. 

Agricultural Contribution in the Economy 

The agricultural contribution in the economy accounts for approximately the same proportion in the entire economic activities in the two countries. Furthermore, both countries have experienced a decline in the GDP share of the agriculture (Anne et al., 2009). Agriculture in the EU employs a significant percentage of the labor force than in the United States. In this regards, the agriculture in the EU is of a more intensive nature regarding production and is further characterized by smaller farm sizes (Baylis 2008). However, the share of the labor force in both countries has been shrinking because of consolidation of holdings . However, the share has declined faster in the EU than in the United States due to significant retirement inducements by the producers. Indeed, little change has occurred in the proportion of employment in agriculture in the US during the 1990s; there seems to be a long-term downward trend (Anne et al., 2009). 

Farm Structures 

The United States comprises of approximately three times the arable lands of the European Union. However, the EU has more than three times the number of farms as the ones the United States has. The average farm size in EU is smaller in a significant sum as compared to the average farm in the US. The average farms and their differences make the variations among the diverse regions in the two nations (Anne et al., 2009). The largest holdings in the EU are found in the United Kingdom making an average of approximately one hundred and seventy-one acres of land with the smallest being in Greece averaging eleven acres. On the other hand, the largest operations in the United States are found in the Mountain States such as Wyoming with an average farm size of at least three thousand, seven hundred and sixty-one acres of land (Baylis 2008). The smallest size of a farm in the United States is found in the Northeast area such as in New Jersey and averages a farm size of eighty-six acres. It is well to note that the numbers of farms have been on the decline in both countries but have decreased significantly in the EU during recent years (Anne et al., 2009). 

The data on the farm and size distributions as well as classes of sales are not directly comparable between the two countries. However, individual data and definitions do well to provide illustrations of the size and distributive differences of farms in the two nations . 

Farm size 

More than half of the total number of farms in the EU is smaller than 12 acres with the largest farms in the region being 124 acres or more accounting for 8% of all of the farms in the EU. On the other hand, 47% of the farms in the United States is 140 acres or bigger (Anne et al., 2009). The largest number of farms in the United States is between 10 to 49 acres with the size class accounting for at least 22% of all farms in the United States. 

The largest class of size in both countries account for the greatest share of land under farming. The biggest farms in the US are those of 2000 acres and more accounting for more than half of all farms in the country. The largest farms in the EU make 124 acres and more accounting for 60% of all of the farm areas in the EU (Anne et al., 2009). 

Economic size 

It 's hard to make a direct comparison between the two countries based on the economic size of sales due to the difference in data collection and reporting in the two nations . However, it is evidenced that the distribution based on sales in the United States is available in the Census of Agriculture. All farms fall into one of the numerous categories from the total sales of not more than $1000 to those of $5000000 and more. 

The data in the EU comes from the Farm Accountancy Data Network that bases its collection on samples of commercial farms. The commercial farms are those marketing their production bulk and exceed the minimum economic activity level. Farms that fall under this category of the sample are larger in economic size than the average farm in the EU. The distribution in the EU is presented as per the European Size Unit that is a measuring unit of the economic size of hold in the agricultural sector instead of the sales class. A farm having an economic size of 1 ESU has a gross standard margin for approximately 1200 ECU. The US sales class data depend on the revenue and are thus not inclusive of the costs. 

Distribution of age of the farmers 

The profile of age in the US and EU relating to the producers is similar. Both countries have 65 and older as the largest age group. The United States comprises of a larger group of the middle-aged farmers who are between the ages of 35 and 54 while most of the farmers in the EU are 55 and above hence belonging to the older categories ( Grueff , 2013). Regardless of the above data, the differences in this regard remain minimal between the two countries. The senior producers attribute the aged producers in the EU to the cause of few persons getting into agriculture or the reassurance where the problem of surplus is to be solved by the demographics courtesy of exit (Anne et al., 2009). On the other hand, the US data suggests that the usual producer in the EU is just older than their counterpart in the US. Therefore, it is well to say that neither data suggests that the younger members of the family work on the farm with the older relatives expecting to inherit or procure the farm (Anne et al., 2009). The preponderance of the elderly in the two nations reflects well the struggle faced by young people in agriculture in accumulating resources to acquire the farmland. The EU has thus placed strategic policies that facilitate the intergenerational farm transfer via early incentives set for the older farmers as well as aids that enable young farmers to proceed with agriculture ( Grueff , 2013). 

Full-time and Part-time Farming 

Farming is a part-time occupation for a significant portion of the farmers in both the US and EU. Most of the producers in the two nations have occupations or jobs rather outside the scope of agriculture and highly dependent on income from off-farm activities (Anne et al., 2009). Full-time farming in the United States is by those that see it as their single and primary occupation such as retirees. Part-time farming is by those that obtain their income from sources outside agriculture and pursue dual farm-nonfarm occupations although their primary occupation is outside agriculture . 

Full-time farmers in the EU are farmers who spend an equivalent amount of time on the farm as the amount spent by a full-time worker (Baylis 2008). The higher portion of the part-time farmers in the EU results from the small natural resources emanating from the European farms and the high seasonality degree of production in some parts of Europe (Anne et al., 2009). 

Agricultural Output 

The composition of production in both the US and EU is similar following that they are both in the temperate zone. Dairy, grains, livestock, fruits, and vegetables dominate the agriculture in both countries. The US produces oilseeds at an enormous scale with the EU providing more prodigious output of dairy when it comes to agricultural production (Anne et al., 2009). However, there is a production difference in the two countries because of the differences in climate, incentives, and other supplies as instituted by the policy of agriculture and variations in tastes and preferences as well as incomes (Baylis 2008). The two countries major producers of agricultural commodities contributing to at least 20% of the production in the world in several agricultural commodities (Anne et al., 2009). 

Farming Systems 

Family farming is an important tradition in the EU. Most of the farms managed by a family for generations. The rural areas that include the farmland and forests stretch a 90% cover of the entire territory in the EU and are home to approximately half of the population (Baylis 2008). For instance, at least 12 million farmers in the EU have an average farm size of 12 hectares as compared to the 2 million farmers in the US running 180-hectare farms (Anne et al., 2009). The US consists more of corporate farming where the farm that is inclusive of the land, structures and machinery as well as produce is owned and managed by a commercial company that hires a management to facilitate its running. The average size of a farm in the United States is at least twenty times bigger than its counterpart in the EU. 

The EU model of farming systems is characterized by local food traveling short distances to the market while in the US; the farms comprise of giant factory farms with food traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to the market. In this regard, the food production in the US entails extensive technological and scientific input to facilitate the significant processing and preservation operations so that it remains edible after traveling long distances. According to Rosmann (2014), the agricultural systems in the US is different from that one in the EU because the US treats food as commodities while the Europeans concentrate more on where the food comes from and whether its production was done appropriately. The US focusses much more on science and technology as well as extension services in preparing the farmers to be dispassionate concerning their food production techniques ( Grueff , 2013). 

Conclusion 

Agriculture makes a significant part of the GDP in both the US and EU. However, the agricultural systems in the two countries have vast differences as well as similarities depending on policies and perceptions of the societies. The two produce large-scale agricultural goods and contribute a great deal to the global market. However, the US shows a larger input, farm size and proper organization of agriculture as compared to the EU. The farming system in the EU is generally small scale when compared to that one of the US and is more reserved for family units while it is a major corporate business in the US. 

References 

Anne Normile, M., &. Leetmaa, S. (2009). U.S.-EU Food and Ag comparisons. Agricultural Economics, 1(30650_wrs0404_002.pdf), 1-97. 

Baylis, K., Peplow, S., Rausser, G., & Simon, L. (2008). Agri-environmental policies in the EU and United States: A comparison. Ecological Economics, 65(4), 753-764. 

Grueff , J., & Tangermann, S. (2013). Achieving a successful outcome for agriculture in the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement. op . cit , 19. 

Rosmann, M. (2014). Is American farming different than European agriculture ?. Farm and Ranch Guide. Retrieved 7 July 2017, from http://www.farmandranchguide.com/entertainment/country_living/farm_and_ranch_life/is-american-farming-different-than-european-farming/article_33f27e66-1e50-11e4-beda-0019bb2963f4.html