> CHEN> Either way you look at it, bigness wins.
>
> This is a common belief. When comparing big corn to little corn, it
> might work. When comparing big hogs to little hogs, It's less certain.
> Most farm economists I've read say the medium sized producer has all the
> economies of the largest. It gets down to management and maybe the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> ability to weather bad years. However, a farmer will starve on his land
> before a corporation will, so I think it is mainly management. It's not
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> get big or get out. It's get smart o[r] get out. You may have to change
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> your product mix.
:^)
I was lucky to be invited to show our weed management software to a
group of ag-high school seniors as part of an effort to attract them
to the NCSU campus for college.
One fellow told me how his dad managed the family operation...what
their "philosophy" was. He said: "We have neighbors with similar size
holdings that haven't done as well as we have. They are not lazy. But
I think that they have not caught on to the fact that you have to
constantly rethink it _all_. And they don't. It seems
like they do a mental review every once in a while. Where we are
different is that we think about it every day of the week!"
And then he blushed, and corrected himself: "Well, maybe not on Sunday.
I want don't anyone to think we don't respect the Lord's Day."
- - -
In contast, an NCSU Extension Economist once told me his opertional
philosophy: there was a common sense limitation on how much urging
one should give to farm operators to "keep up, because afterall it
is just a technological treadmill with no end in sight."
> CHEN> .... "Man is conceived in sin and born in
> CHEN> corruption. From the stench of the didie to the stink of...
>
> I don't have any morals to impart, nor biblical style references...
Warning to Mr. Chen: don't listen while you rewind your music tapes.
-- 73/Steve/AB4EL ab4el@Cybernetics.NET