Administrative Burden in Action: Agricultural Producers and Regulatory Compliance

This study explores how administrative costs are perceived and experienced by smaller-scale agricultural producers navigating regulatory compliance in the U.S. food system using a case study of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Leveraging interview and survey data, qualitative analysis applies the administrative burden framework, administrative literacy, and the organizational formation of demands to consider producers’ encounters with mandatory and voluntary regulations. Findings show that while producers demonstrate strong administrative and civic literacy, they still describe administrative demands as obstructive. Literacy provides little protection against burdens when financial and human resources are limited, or requirements seem unreasonable. I introduce the idea of positional burden to capture how producers’ place in the agriculture sector and available resources shape the intensity of perceived administrative burden. Clarifying this group’s perception of administrative burdens presents opportunities to intervene and reduce costs undermining their investment in community food systems, while improving scholarly understanding of administrative burden in regulatory contexts.