A taxonomy of entrepreneurial farmers

The paper develops a conceptual understanding of the farmer as entrepreneur and provides an innovative theoretical framework based on a modelling process and taxonomy of the farmer, which enables the complexities of the dynamic changing forces which act upon the life world of the farmer to be framed. A number of key themes emerge: • Farmers are a particularly rich area for study in the area of entrepreneurial capability. • The myths surrounding farmers' capability to be entrepreneurial require examination. • farmers are businesspeople in that they runbusinesses, but in practice they do not necessarily have well-defined business skills. • The barriers to becoming entrepreneurial for farmers are greater than in other sectors.