The possibilities of small-scale economic activities, which include peasant (farm) farms, in the preservation and development of rural areas of the country, in solving the problems of employment and income of rural residents require a deep interdisciplinary analysis in order to develop effective support measures in the future. Farmers are a significant subject of socio-economic processes in modern Russian rural areas and the implementation of state food security programs. Most of their farms are multi-industry, they are engaged in grain growing, animal husbandry, vegetable growing, beekeeping, etc.
In order to understand what processes are taking place in farms, what factors constrain and what, on the contrary, contribute to their development, how the farming way of life adapts to the conditions of constantly changing socio – economic reality, how farmers are integrated into the activities of rural societies, it is important to use various research practices to study the various aspects of farms in different regions of the country. This article uses sociological information obtained from rural residents of such large agricultural regions as the Republic of Kalmykia, Astrakhan, Volgograd regions, and Stavropol territory.