Farm value and farm transfer: perspectives from economics and sociology – FARM_VALUE

The empirical application is to France, and in particular on dairy and beef cattle farming in three regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Bretagne. The dairy and beef cattle sector has been chosen here since it is particularly affected by succession problems: high farm value due to animals as well as buildings and machinery associated to the animals; hence, high transfer cost; low attractiveness due to hard working conditions implied by the care of animals day and night; and by contrast low profitability. The three main regions have been selected as they present various economic environments as well as different cultural heritage and social values.
On a methodological point of view, we will make use of existing economic data that are little exploited for this issue, such as the French Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and the European Household Finance and Consumption Survey. We will also perform a survey to hundreds of farmers to complement these data, as well as semi-directive interviews that allow account for personal ties between partners in a collective farm, and family ties over several generations.

To be completed

To be completed

Productions in the first 18 months of the project:
- Enjolras G., Jeanneaux P., Desjeux Y., Latruffe L., 2017, «Transmission et Evaluation de la Valeur des Exploitations Agricoles«, invited presentation in the workshop «Transmission des exploitations et installation des jeunes en coopératives : valeur des exploitations agricoles et modes de financement« organised by Coop de France Ouest and Agrocampus Ouest, Rennes, France, February 23.
- Desjeux Y., Latruffe L., Enjolras G., Jeanneaux P., 2017, «Enquête sur l’Utilisation des Méthodes d’Evaluation de la Valeur des Exploitations Agricoles : Résumé des Résultats«, September 26.
- Jeanneaux P., Desjeux Y., Enjolras G., Latruffe L., 2017, «Farm Value Evaluation: Methods and Challenges«, contributed paper presented in the 21st congress of IFMA (International Farm Management Association), Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 2-7; and in the 11th French conference of social sciences in agriculture ('Journées de Recherche en Sciences Sociales'), Lyon, France, December 14-15.
- Enjolras G., Sanfilippo G., 2017, «The Capital Structure of French Farms«, contributed paper presented in the 11th French conference of social sciences in agriculture ('Journées de Recherche en Sciences Sociales'), Lyon, France, December 14-15.
- Jeanneaux P., Enjolras G., Desjeux Y., Latruffe L, 2018, «Transmission et évaluation de la valeur des exploitations agricoles«, Cahiers du Développement Coopératif, 3: 27-31.
- Jeanneaux, P., Desjeux, Y., Enjolras, G., Latruffe, L. 2018. «Politique d’Aide à l’Installation en Agriculture : Eclairage par l’Evaluation Ex-Post des Mesures du PDRH (2007-2013)«, contributed paper in the seminar SFER « Politiques agricoles et alimentaires : Trajectoires et Réformes », Montpellier, France, June 20-21.

The FARM_VALUE project’s objective is to contribute to scientific knowledge and to provide new perspectives to farm stakeholders and policy-makers on farm transfers, focusing specifically on the role of the value of the farm in this process. The project aims at carrying for the first time in the literature a thorough assessment of how the value of a farm is assessed, both from economic and sociological points of view, and how both points of view can (or should) be fully integrated in the context of farm transfer. Studying the issue with both economic and sociological perspectives has never been done so far to our knowledge, although this is of high value for this particular issue: generally, the farm value used during transfers by professional stakeholders is given by economic or financial metrics; however, the latter do not account for sociological value (e.g. the fact that the farm assets are family assets), which may be so high that it prevents transfer.

More specifically, we aim at (1) updating the current state of the art on farm value and suggesting methodological extensions or alternatives in particular from finance; (2) considering the diversity of components in a farm value, and in particular farm intangible assets, whether these are economic aspects (such as the role of the farm in a territory, managerial skills, payment rights or contracts) or sociological aspects (such as professional knowledge); (3) linking the value of a farm to its transfer, by analysing farmers' wealth accumulation strategies, transferred farms' performance, and the way shares are valued in partnership farms.

The empirical application is to France, and in particular on dairy and beef cattle farming in three regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Bretagne. The dairy and beef cattle sector has been chosen here since it is particularly affected by succession problems: high farm value due to animals as well as buildings and machinery associated to the animals; hence, high transfer cost; low attractiveness due to hard working conditions implied by the care of animals day and night; and by contrast low profitability. The three main regions have been selected as they present various economic environments as well as different cultural heritage and social values.

On a methodological point of view, we will make use of existing economic data that are little exploited for this issue, such as the French Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and the European Household Finance and Consumption Survey. We will also perform a survey to hundreds of farmers to complement these data, as well as semi-directive interviews that allow account for personal ties between partners in a collective farm, and family ties over several generations.