Family farming in Pennsylvania died years ago from land competition. The first general category of threat came from industrial farming. Large corporations star

Family farming in Pennsylvania died years ago from land competition. The first general category of threat came from industrial farming. Large corporations started acquiring land in order to optimize profits for their monocultures. Over time, much of the land that was historically family farms became mega-farms that out compete any new family farms. The second general category of threat was real estate developers. They would buy up land, often from the people who used to rent to farmers. At first they might not raise rents at all. But later when the market was agreeable, they'd raise rents until farmers couldn't afford to farm it, and then develop it for more profitable commercial or residential use. (interestingly, many plots that weren't being developed sat empty, and so some farmers would actually guerilla-farm it for years/decades) A third general category was non-developers (usually the inheritor of older farms or land owners) who owned lots of land and rented it to farmers. They would "suggest" that the most profitable crop be placed and that they receive a cut, or they'd rent the land to someone else when the lease was up. So over time most land went to farming corn even if the farmer wanted to grow real food, and eventually that land would get sold to one of the two above.