;I agree with Peggy. One of the key issues facing American agriculture today
;is the survival of small scale, family owned and operated farms. Compare
;the concept of small scale farms in rural communities with small
;businesses in an urban neighborhood. Individuals who want to be
;entrepreneurs can own a business and sell products. The urban residents in
;those neighborhoods buy from those stores and the wealth of the community
;is spread among many individuals. Rural communities deserve the same
;opportunities. Family farms located in each state would provide an
;opportunity for those who want to farm to own a "business." Other small
;businesses will spring up in the community to serve the farmers and the
;residents of the community and ultimately it will become a successful rural
;community with a lot of people living, working, and raising families in the
;area.
;We must do something to counter the "get big or get out" mentality in
;agriculture.
======================
We have been mechanizing farming since the late 1800's. Rather successfully
if you look at it from a consumers point of view. Today's commodity prices
are at all time lows if you adjust for inflation. From an overall point of
view
it is probably not the best answer but it is going to be very hard to
turn around.
The indvigule can do something for himself by developing a niche market
where he can get a decent return on his investment or by working days
and farming nights and weekends.
The guy that work's in town and has a few head of cows on the
side can make the deal work rather well. Right now is the time
to be putting a cow herd together. With low prices and drought you
can buy good cows worth the money.
Gordon
Gordon Couger gcouger@couger.com
Owner PRAG-L PRactical AGriculture List www.couger.com/prag-l
Stillwater, OK 405 624-2855 GMT -6:00
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