European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                New York times among the growing number of Europe s part time Farmers Are Nicole and Jean Pierre Philippe., although the Jun a Dairy farm in Normandy he must also drive a truck. Europe s by Jonathan Kandell new York times Ean Pierre Philippe s two Brothers and his sister moved to the City from France s Normandy Countryside years ago conceding the hopeless Ness of eking out a living from a Small hereditary  for the last decade Philippe the youngest family member has made a comfortable living from his 13-acre Dairy farm at St. Therien and a Job As a milk truck  seven cows Graze unperturbed by the reapers Cut Ting swaths through the Green Gold sea of wheat and Corn on a huge neighbouring farm. Philippe 34 years old and his wife Nicole Are so confident that they will be Able to keep afloat that they recently built a three bedroom House on their plot with a neat Lawn that spreads out like a Welcome mat. The Philippes Are among the growing numbers of part time Farmers who seem to be turning the tide of the Rural exodus that has been under Way in the common Market countries since the end of world Warll. Part timers now account for 35 to 55 percent of farm ers in France Britain West Germany Italy the nether lands Belgium Luxembourg Denmark and Ireland As Well As other european countries outside the common  survival mainly on Small farms once thought to be too uneconomical has resulted from the movement of industries away from great Urban centers to smaller towns and Rural villages. The millions of new jobs Cre ated in the Countryside have supplemented the incomes of Large numbers of peasants and poor Farmers enabling them to hold onto their properties and agrarian Way of  phenomenon has aroused controversy Between agronomists economists and politicians who acclaim part time Farmers As a stabilizing Force in the unde popu lated Countryside and critics who maintain that these Farmers Are hindering the modernization of Western european agriculture that has been under Way for the last three  re never going to be wealthy said Philippe rub Bing his calloused Palms As his wife at his Side nodded agreement. We probably won t even be Able to buy an other Square meter of land. But i look at my Brothers living in the cities. They make More Money but i can t say they re happier. Or else Why do they visit us whenever they can i be been in Paris one Day there is enough  an hour after Dawn Philippe is in his pickup truck making dozens of stops to haul the heavy milk cans from neighbouring farms to a Nestle Plant. At noon he is Back at his property and after lunch and a Nap he devotes him self to farm chores. As the Sun sets he makes another milk run and is Back Home by 11 . He takes off Only one Day a week. But Philippe says he also measures his wealth by the 18th-Century Spires Church and the cobblestones streets in the tiny Village the gently sloping Hills and valleys bounded by the Normandy coast and the friends he never had to leave behind. I was born and grew up Here he said. I know everybody even the big property owners. I Don t feel that they want me out of Here. Anyway i m such a Small Farmer Why should anybody care whether i stay or move there is no Clear Cut answer to that question. Phil Ippe s District is one of the More prosperous Rural areas in France partly because of Large mechanized farms and also because hundreds of Small Farmers have been Able to find additional employment at the Renault automobile factory the Nestle Plant and other installations that have moved there in recent years. But the postwar agricultural policy of most West euro Pean countries including France has been to encourage larger farms that would produce food More efficiently. The booming Urban Economy easily absorbed the surplus labourers who flowed out of the Countryside. Those Farmers who stayed behind benefited from Low taxes easy government Loans for equipment and property improvement and guaranteed food prices that tend to run 15 to 20 per cent higher than in the United states. In most common Market countries less than 10percent of the Active population is now in agriculture and the average size of farms had tended Torise though they Are still Only one fourth to one third the size of the average american farm. But in the last decade the common Market countries have been carrying out policies that seem to be working As Coute currents to the Rural exodus and modernization of agriculture. Monday september 25, 1978 Dail Magazine because of environmental considerations there has been a widespread desire to maintain the vitality of Vil Lages and Small towns and to preserve a traditional Way of life apart from the bustling modern metropolises. The rising property costs and Industrial concentration in Large cities have also led governments to encourage the movement of factories and businesses to less developed towns and Rural zones. As a result of these conflicting trends an economic balance seems to have been created in Many West euro Pean agricultural regions and the March from the farms to the cities has been slowed. The main complaint directed at the swelling numbers of part time Farmers is that they have blocked the further expansion of farm units. A recent study by the Organiza Tion for economic cooperation and development asked will the new source of income enable a Farmer with a non viable farm to stay in agriculture and thus hold on to the land which his neighbors had hoped they could acquire to enlarge their farms some agrarian experts assert that this is indeed the Case. In West Germany for example the Price of agricultural land has soared to the Point that farms Are no longer growing in size. The number of Farmers has remained steady at about 900,000, or 7 percent of the labor Force for the last few years. More than half of West German Farmers work their land part time yet it is the full timers who account for 80 percent of the country s food production. We Are not going to get any bigger said Hans Josef Orem a full time Farmer from Niedere Senich in the Rhineland whose 137 acres Are Flung out in Small plots Over a 20-mile radius. We would buy or rent More land but there is none  according to Hasso Pacyna director of agrarian policy for the Rhineland Farmers association there is no doubt that there Are too Many people in agriculture in West Germany. But so Many Small landholders in his District have taken second jobs in industries and businesses moving into the Rhineland with government encourage ment that he doubts there will be any decline in the number of Farmers anytime soon. The value of their properties is rising so much they would be foolish to sell out now he said. The growth of part time farming has also led a number of economists to question the real extent of Rural poverty in common Market countries and to warn that governments May be subsidizing Farmers at the expense of Consumers. As a result of relatively High non farm incomes which May include social payments the number of farm families with real income problems is much lower than has often been assumed the Recd noted in its recent study. Germany the majority of no income taxes and most of those Are part timers. In devising an income policy for agriculture there fore off farm income should be taken into account. Also some of the upward pressure on farm prices caused by the desire to help Large numbers of Low income Farmers May be removed by the existence of off farm  in France and West Germany the majority of Farmers pay no personal income taxes and most of those who Don t Are part timers who have additionally benefited by soaring property values. But part time farming also has some Strong defenders. In the Normandy Region agrarian officials have welcomed the survival of Small Farmers such As Philippe and Point out with satisfaction that in some districts the Rural exodus ended a decade ago. I look at the problem from the standpoint of maintain ing the physical landscape and a life style that was always valued in this country said Jacques Caron an expert on part time farming who works with the regional department of agriculture. Even from a purely eco nomic Point of View it is difficult to say that part time Farmers have been a negative Factor. If their production is Low they still keep a lot of villages alive through their purchasing Power and by just being  the stars and stripes Page 13