IN SEARCH OF THE PART-TIME CAPITALIST FARMER - LABOR USE AND FARM STRUCTURE IN CENTRAL CANADA

This paper examines the contention that capitalist agriculture is comi ng to predominate in the industrialized West. An empirical study of ce ntral Canadian farms integrated into agribusiness operations indicates the structural complexity of agriculture and the importance of commod ity features in defining the social organization of farms. Particularl y notable findings concern the long duration and relatively high volum es of seasonal wage labour, some of it migratory offshore labour, used on certain categories of farms, and the importance of this labour usa ge in defining these farms in structural terms. These findings challen ge the sweeping generalizations found in the rural sociological litera ture concerning farm structure, and in particular previous analyses of the impact of agribusiness on petty-commodity production.