The role of trust and dependence in machine work performed by cooperating family farms

Takács, István – Baranyai, Zsolt

Keywords: trust, dependence, competitiveness, efficiency, machine use

The paper addresses the factors affecting the willingness of family farmers to cooperate, using a questionnaire-based survey and interviews carried out in a traditionally agricultural region of Békés county. The analysis of the level of trust by farmers and their willingness to cooperate shows that the forms of cooperation most accepted (typically, hiring others to perform machine work) are those which require a low level of dependency as well as a low level of trust (which can only be considered a form of cooperation in the broad sense of the word). At the same time, the forms of cooperation involving a greater degree of dependency (cooperation in the traditional sense) are more acceptable for the younger generation. This fact offers a chance that once the new generation of agricultural players grows up, cooperation may strengthen, bringing about a strengthening of family farming and of rural communities. International experience and the detailed interviews held for the purpose of the study also indicate that the Government can significantly influence the level of willingness to cooperate by applying direct and indirect orientation tools.

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