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I feel like you have missed some important nuance in my comment or misunderstood the context of our discussion. Rural flight says nothing about moving farms int

I feel like you have missed some important nuance in my comment or misunderstood the context of our discussion. Rural flight says nothing about moving farms into the city. But, statistically, farmers make substantially more than most. Moving to the city (to find a new career) would not be one's best bet if farming is what they know.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Being a farmer these days is capital intensive and heavily mechanized, so even if they make more than most, most can’t be farmers. Even farmers have trouble being farmers these days, because they have to keep up with an increasingly mechanized profession that needs fewer of them every year. Then most definitely, moving to the city might be your vest bet even if farming is the only thing you know.
- randomdata 8y ago
  > Being a farmer these days is capital intensive and heavily mechanized, so even if they make more than most, most can’t be farmers. They are already farmers, so that's a moot point. How could you move your farm to the city if you did not have a farm to move? > Even farmers have trouble being farmers these days, because they have to keep up with an increasingly mechanized profession that needs fewer of them every year. Mechanization is causing attrition, but I am not convinced it is causing farms to fail. If you are established, it won't be mechanization that gets you. > Then most definitely, moving tk the city might be your vest bet even if farming is the only thing you know. Or you could just sell your business, retire off of the proceeds, and live wherever you want (which is probably not the city; I've never heard of a retired farmer keen to move to the city – in fact, rural areas are often thought of as retirement communities for former city dwellers). Like you said, it is a capital intensive business. There is an incredible amount of capital at your disposal.
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    This is very well studied and the effect is very real, see https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-04-04/family-farms-pushed-to-get-big-or-go-bust%3fcontext=amp https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/best-states... You only have as much capital as the bank will lend you, and you are often living year to year on whatever your income is (which you’ll need to use a lot to either pay down loans or save so you don’t have to take out loans). And if you are successful, you buy out your less successful neighbor to expand your farm, where does your neighbor go? Old farmers can probably retire, but what about young ones? They often just give up and move. This has been talked about a lot in the last decade, there is no big mystery or open question about it. Other countries have it even worse than America; eg Japan.
    - randomdata 8y ago
      > You only have as much capital as the bank will lend you There are other ways to acquire capital. I see a lot of people who were doctors, lawyers, and tech professionals in the farming business. That is probably not a coincidence. > And if you are successful, you buy out your less successful neighbor to expand your farm, where does your neighbor go? The neighbour retires. If you are the neighbour, why would you sell your piece for any less than is required for you to retire? If you plan to keep working, you may as well keep working your farm. > Old farmers can probably retire, but what about young ones? They often just give up and move. The young ones generally don't start in the first place unless they have a line on capital that extends beyond the bank. And so, they also have that capital to sell. But why wouldn't they simply keep on farming?
      - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
        > I see a lot of people who were doctors, lawyers, and tech professionals in the farming business. That is probably not a coincidence. That is just the Green Acres phenomenon, they are doing it because they have capital from other professions, not because they make a lot in farming. You have a very strange interpretation of farming in the USA, if you could provide some links/articles that back up your understand, I would take your argument more seriously. I can find a hundred articles on why farming is dying profession, and not any on why it is booming one as you seem to suggest.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago

Being a farmer these days is capital intensive and heavily mechanized, so even if they make more than most, most can’t be farmers. Even farmers have trouble being farmers these days, because they have to keep up with an increasingly mechanized profession that needs fewer of them every year. Then most definitely, moving to the city might be your vest bet even if farming is the only thing you know.

randomdata 8y ago
> Being a farmer these days is capital intensive and heavily mechanized, so even if they make more than most, most can’t be farmers. They are already farmers, so that's a moot point. How could you move your farm to the city if you did not have a farm to move? > Even farmers have trouble being farmers these days, because they have to keep up with an increasingly mechanized profession that needs fewer of them every year. Mechanization is causing attrition, but I am not convinced it is causing farms to fail. If you are established, it won't be mechanization that gets you. > Then most definitely, moving tk the city might be your vest bet even if farming is the only thing you know. Or you could just sell your business, retire off of the proceeds, and live wherever you want (which is probably not the city; I've never heard of a retired farmer keen to move to the city – in fact, rural areas are often thought of as retirement communities for former city dwellers). Like you said, it is a capital intensive business. There is an incredible amount of capital at your disposal.
- seanmcdirmid 8y ago
  This is very well studied and the effect is very real, see https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-04-04/family-farms-pushed-to-get-big-or-go-bust%3fcontext=amp https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/best-states... You only have as much capital as the bank will lend you, and you are often living year to year on whatever your income is (which you’ll need to use a lot to either pay down loans or save so you don’t have to take out loans). And if you are successful, you buy out your less successful neighbor to expand your farm, where does your neighbor go? Old farmers can probably retire, but what about young ones? They often just give up and move. This has been talked about a lot in the last decade, there is no big mystery or open question about it. Other countries have it even worse than America; eg Japan.
  - randomdata 8y ago
    > You only have as much capital as the bank will lend you There are other ways to acquire capital. I see a lot of people who were doctors, lawyers, and tech professionals in the farming business. That is probably not a coincidence. > And if you are successful, you buy out your less successful neighbor to expand your farm, where does your neighbor go? The neighbour retires. If you are the neighbour, why would you sell your piece for any less than is required for you to retire? If you plan to keep working, you may as well keep working your farm. > Old farmers can probably retire, but what about young ones? They often just give up and move. The young ones generally don't start in the first place unless they have a line on capital that extends beyond the bank. And so, they also have that capital to sell. But why wouldn't they simply keep on farming?
    - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
      > I see a lot of people who were doctors, lawyers, and tech professionals in the farming business. That is probably not a coincidence. That is just the Green Acres phenomenon, they are doing it because they have capital from other professions, not because they make a lot in farming. You have a very strange interpretation of farming in the USA, if you could provide some links/articles that back up your understand, I would take your argument more seriously. I can find a hundred articles on why farming is dying profession, and not any on why it is booming one as you seem to suggest.