Detaching from agriculture? Field-crop specialization as a challenge to family farming in northern Côte d'Or, France

This article examines the causes and experience of field-crop specialization and its consequences for family farms. First of all, the article reviews the academic literature on family farming and shows how, far from hindering capitalist development, family farming has been a useful tool for public policy encouraging such development. It then proposes to look at family farming as a model which aggregates a set of social norms and practices which may to some extent be disconnected. The article is based on a qualitative case study carried out in northern Côte d'Or, France. It shows that in this area field-crop specialization results from a withdrawal of dairy, thus triggering a process of detachment with regard to certain characteristics of family farming. This initial disconnection is followed by other recombinations of links, creating the opportunity for several possible ways forward. Finally, the article analyzes the effects of specialization on farming in partnerships and farm management, emphasizing the decoupling of business from household, and management from field work.