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2000 acres is a "small" "family" farm?? The myth of farming in the United States far over-estimates the where the _value_ in farming lies. Yes, John Deere is ex
by z_jdav 3y ago
2000 acres is a "small" "family" farm?? The myth of farming in the United States far over-estimates the where the _value_ in farming lies. Yes, John Deere is exploitative - but what about the wealthy land owners that profit off the backs of poorly paid _farm workers_? Or the huge government subsidies paid to growers of commodity grain? The idea of the "family farm" as a productive and legitimate sector of the economy is mostly a myth[0].
[0] See "Farm and other F words" by Sarah Mock for a more complete treatment.
- diordiderot 3y agoYou can operate a 2000 acre farm with 4 people. That's a family farm bub.
- throw0101b 3y ago> 2000 acres is a "small" "family" farm?? The 'farm vlogger' channel Laura Farms operates a 2000 acres (800 hectares; 8 sq. km) farm: * https://www.youtube.com/@LauraFarms/videos https://www.youtube.com/@LauraFarms/videos
- alvah 3y agoThis only seems large by European standards I think. The 50-100 acre farms in my homeland are a relic of pre-industrial times, and can't be competitive in a world market without vast EU subsidies.
- rendaw 3y agoDo you have any references on small farm size efficiency? In Japan ~90% are < 50 acre both by land mass and count, and seeing the 100m^2 farms in my neighborhood I can't believe it's anywhere near efficient, even when sharing farm equipment. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/agricultural-land-area-by-farm-size?country=USA~JPN~GBR https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/agricultural-land-area-by... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-farms-size?country=JPN~USA~GBR https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-farms-size?country...
- throw0101b 3y agoJapan has a bunch of issues with agriculture and too-small farms is part of it: * https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/11/25/japan-struggles-save-shrinking-aging-agriculture-industry/75825884/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/11/25/japan-strugg... * https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/japans-farms-weakening-yen-adds-slow-burning-discontent-2022-06-26/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/japans-farms-wea... * https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/japans-agriculture-dilemma/ https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/japans-agriculture-dilemma/ Small family farms are good when a country is still developing and has excess labour, but once industrialization gets going folks move to urban areas for factory jobs and farms need to consolidate and mechanize. This has been the story over history for all countries have been 'developed', and in the post-WW2 is generally true of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Though this mechanization never really happened in Japan. How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region goes over this quite well: * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144575-how-asia-works https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144575-how-asia-works
- freddie_mercury 3y agoIt is large by American standards. The USDA says that only 4% of farms in America are 2,000 acres or larger. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Farms_Farmland.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017C... The average farm in America is 446 acres, according to the USDA. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/farming-and-farm-income/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistic... The OP is completely out of touch thinking that 2,000 acres is small.
- ackbar03 3y agoI'm pretty sure this is what led to communism