Farmers’ children and their Grandparents

Some further light on this factor on homogeneity in the farming population is thrown by an analysis of farmers’ children and their grandparents. This demonstrates how even over three generations the farming community tends to retain its personnel and even the grandchildren of new comers to the farming industry tend to remain inside it in the same way as the grandchildren of the farmers who were born into the industry.

The grandparents were divided into three groups — those who were farmers, those who were in occupations connected with farming and those who were in other occupations.

The grandchildren of the first group comprised 44% who were already connected with farming and 16% who were going into farming - 60% in all. The children whose grandparents had occupations connected with farming comprised 13% who intended to go into farming and 42% who were already in farming – 55% in all and the third group and 16% who intended going into farming and 37% already in farming, a total of 53%. These differences are not significant and the results show that in all groups attachment to the industry is very strong.

Some light on the effect of recruiting from other occupations is shown by an analysis of the education that the grandchildren of the different groups are receiving or have had. The grandchildren of farmers have 76% who have been to elementary school or are going to it, those whose grandparents were connected with farming 86%, but those in other occupations only 57%. Farmers' grandchildren have a higher proportion of children going to secondary schools than those whose grandchildren’s occupations were connected with farming - 55% against 29%.This reflects possibly the higher standard of living of the former group since in many cases the grandparents whose occupations were connected with farming were farm labourers or rural craftsmen. In contrast those who grandparents were in other occupations have 42% who are or have been in secondary or public schools, and in addition 25% who are or have been in preparatory schools compared with 6% and 9% in the other two groups, reflecting the higher standard of living of many of the recruits to farming from business and the professions.