“Organizational classes” explain differences among westside farms

Since the advent of industrialization, social theorists have been analyzing the complex relationships of industrial systems. At the same time, attention to agricultural production systems has waned. The fact that agricultural systems resemble early industrial systems suggests that farms might be studied using the same theories as those applied to industrial organization. That is, farms can be organized according to how they function. Farms which function similarly are said to belong to “organizational classes”. Types or classes of farms perform differently in the ease with which they can adopt to new technology or apply intensive agricultural practices. We used two organizational variables — task specialization and configuration — to distinguish among farm types on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley. Five organization types were defined and found to be significantly different with regard to several production variables including number of full-time and part-time workers, acres farmed and use of computers.