> Your concerns are my concerns. Not just for the farms but also for the
> rural communities that the farms support. My rural PA county is heavily
> agricultural, by land use. Still, farmers account for less than 20% of the
> population (although ag-related business accounts for 75% of the economic
> activity). As farmers, aged and broke, go out of business on a regular
> basis, what will happen to the land and the economic activity?
Here in rural San Francisco Bay Area it happened a long time ago. When
the second generation left the ranch in the twenties, the economy had
already begun to turn bad for the family farmer. By the time of the great
depression, most of the small farmers with 50 acres or less had left the
land. The big farmers with 300 acres or more had bought them out. During
WW2 there was a boom in the ag economy and the big farmers who all had
tractors bought more tractors. Some of them farmed 1000 acres, much of it
in dryland flax. Somewheres along the line came a wet cycle and most of
the topsoil washed into the Pacific Ocean.
The land is still here. It is kept as open space by strict zoning. All of
the counties have a Local Coastal Plan to keep the land in ag. The
speculators have come and gone. With the high housing prices in the
nearby cities, homesites sell for $125,000 to more than $500,000. Some
people buy a ranch just to have a homesite. The land prices are many
times higher than any ag operation can justify.
Statistically San Mateo County has high agricultural production. The
prime soils are planted to a monoculture of Artichokes and Brussel Sprouts.
Small time flower growers who were crouded out of the suburbs a
generation ago have come down here, put up green houses and grow flowers
in open field production. The money seems to follow high pesticide and
fertilizer use. Flower growers are the only ones who buy farmland.
Land Trusts have gobbled up a lot of land and are gobbling more. No one
seems to like them.
The once productive hills are languishing. Much of the land is fallow.
This is probably for the best, because it does improve the soil. There
are a few people who lease land and run cattle. None of them are really
doing it right. The occasional newcomer who trys to farm soon learns it
is the shortest route to the poorhouse and quits after one year.
It would be nice if a family could come here and buy a ranch, send the
kids to school and FFA, and have an operation going that would turn a
small profit and help take care of the land.
Tom Armstrong toma@crl.com Sequera Ranch s.1892 San Gregorio, CA
Barnyard Technology--- Ideas for tomorrow -> from yesterday's scrap.
4th -> 5th gen. on family farm. Can Ag Sustain?
A ghost town fights its way back.. http://www.crl.com/~toma/
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