Let us take
a ride in the country 40 years ago in July in the Midwest. What do you think you will be seeing out of your
car window? We have just passed into Wisconsin from Minnesota. The fields are full of crops: corn, wheat,
hay, soy beans, and maybe a crop of sunflowers.
The small farms hold: chickens, ducks, goats, cows, hogs, horses, in
small numbers. Your ride highlights
small farm one after another. There are
also gardens around every farm.
You live in
a city and have not seen this amount of livestock unless they were at the local
zoo. The farmers are all out in their
gardens and barns taking care of their animals and crops. You think to yourself how do all of these
animals and crops become food for the table?
It takes a lot of work and planning in order to feed everyone on the
farm.
Today we are
going to take the same ride into the rural.
What we see is quite different from 40 years ago. The farms are much bigger and grow just one
or two crops. The days when a farmer
could make a living on 320 acres has passed by.
The mega farm has come into being.
The farmer must grow a lot of crop or many head of animals in order to
stay in business. The ability of the
family farm to stay in the family has become almost impossible due to taxes,
price setting by the buyers, equipment cost, genetic seeds, weed control,
growing agents, and most of all the cost of the land. The cost to have acreage
in order to raise crops and animals is going beyond the reach of the middle
class.
How do we
get back to the place where we can raise enough crops and animals in order to
be self sufficient. How do we regain the
skills and drive to take care of ourselves and our family. Where Are You Going to Go???
