Kolkhoz

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A kolkhoz (Russian: колхо́з (help·info) IPA: [kʌlˈxos]), plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms (sovkhoz). The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective economy". The latter term is usually translated "collective farm."

In a kolkhoz, a member, called kolkhoznik (колхо́зник, feminine колхо́зница), was paid a share of the farm’s product and profit according to the number of workdays, while a sovkhoz employed salaried workers. Also members of kolkhozy were allowed to hold one acre of private land and a couple of animals. Many Soviet peasants liked the kolkhozy the most because the private plots were often where they got the majority of their income.

See collectivisation in the USSR and agriculture of the Soviet Union for general discussion of Soviet agriculture.