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> the 17-acre Willard Farm This is a very small farm even for family farm-sizes. Article does not mention if it was once larger, but I have a suspicion that it

> the 17-acre Willard Farm This is a very small farm even for family farm-sizes. Article does not mention if it was once larger, but I have a suspicion that it was. > “Today, the cost of producing anything is way out of line,” Paul tells Harasimowicz. “A dollar gets spent almost before you earn it because of the cost of pesticides, diesel fuel, labor, insurance—everything has gone up. You can only get so much for a tomato.” At 17 acres, the farm would not be able to take advantage of economies of scale the way a one man show of, say, 530 acres would. My friend, a farmer that left his family farm (of about 5000 acres now) after decades to become an accountant (due to the toxic behavior of the uneducated and entitled next generation, Millennials fwiw, not insolvency) was just talking to me about smaller 1000 acre farms around his family's farm that "were basically one-man shows," that they would hire seasonal help only during harvest, and the reason they were not wealthy (they're not unsuccessful though) had nothing to do with farming, per se, instead poor crop choices and bad timing in planting.

Infernal 3y ago
The author states that a nearby historical building was on what used to be Willard land. It’s likely that what remains is a very small fragment of the original whole.
- Maursault 3y ago
  That was my feeling, but thanks for spotting the evidence.
tsunamifury 3y ago
I really want to know why entitled and toxic millennials forced your friend off his farm and into accounting…
- fundad 3y ago
  That's easy, he hated being a boss and probably underpaid the farmhands.
- jacobsenscott 3y ago
  Ever since the EPA banned the "toxic uneducated millennial"icides they've really started to overrun the corn and soybean fields. Grouchy boomers and gen x'ers can drive them away organically by telling tales of how they worked 8 or even 10 hours nearly every day, but these deterrents are getting harder and harder to find in the heartland - they are migrating to Florida and Arizona.
- Maursault 3y ago
  His nephew feels the farm belongs to him, saw my friend, one of the three actual legitimate heirs, as a threat. It was not just toxicity, it was escalating violence. Though my friend is the strongest man I know and could literally tie his skinny nephew into a double knot, and I could tell you stories of his ridiculous physicality that I personally witnessed, he is a pacifist, nonviolent, quite gentle for someone with farm hands. His nephew barely has a HS education, though I would consider him extremely financially successful, as is everyone with a share in the business thanks to the farm's success. But he is young, thinks he knows everything but doesn't know anything, drives a $100K pickup and thinks a lot of himself, as success can have that effect. He drives a planter, and that is all he knows. He doesn't have any education in the sciences that would lend themselves to farming, such as agronomy, genetics, biology, ecology, meteorology, business, economics or engineering. I'd be very surprised if he knew algebra. My friend has a mechanical engineering degree from a high ranking engineering university, and he worked on that farm for 40 years under his grandfather, then his father. For the last 2 decades, though not a mechanic, he's fixed the broken equipment, which broke down all the time, and kept it running, saving the farm untold amounts for this alone, and ran the front office, and also handled sales, as well as driving a combine, harvester, delivering product with ten wheelers, or whatever else he needed to do. I don't think his brothers recognized his value, and I don't understand how they're getting along without him. He knew what he was leaving behind, actually got a fair settlement, but accounting, and it is controlling actually, is easy money to him compared to farming. Farming is extremely lucrative, but there are far easier ways to make money. And if his nephew ever does get control of the farm, it will not last, because he is an uneducated moron that is mentally ill and abusive. That he is a Millennial is incidental. He's young, but also identifiably a narcissist, and I should have just said that and left what generation American he was out of it. I believe the children are our future. Millennials, as sensitive as they can be at times (if hn comments are any indicator), and maybe it is just that they get too much unjustified criticism, are going to save the world, I have no doubt about that. And I am and should be grateful to them.
  - mcphage 3y ago
    > Millennials, as sensitive as they can be at times They are sensitive. Thankfully, not as sensitive as the generations that would riot if the wrong kind of person drank from their water fountain.
helf 3y ago
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Infernal 3y ago

The author states that a nearby historical building was on what used to be Willard land. It’s likely that what remains is a very small fragment of the original whole.

Maursault 3y ago
That was my feeling, but thanks for spotting the evidence.

tsunamifury 3y ago

I really want to know why entitled and toxic millennials forced your friend off his farm and into accounting…

fundad 3y ago
That's easy, he hated being a boss and probably underpaid the farmhands.
jacobsenscott 3y ago
Ever since the EPA banned the "toxic uneducated millennial"icides they've really started to overrun the corn and soybean fields. Grouchy boomers and gen x'ers can drive them away organically by telling tales of how they worked 8 or even 10 hours nearly every day, but these deterrents are getting harder and harder to find in the heartland - they are migrating to Florida and Arizona.
Maursault 3y ago
His nephew feels the farm belongs to him, saw my friend, one of the three actual legitimate heirs, as a threat. It was not just toxicity, it was escalating violence. Though my friend is the strongest man I know and could literally tie his skinny nephew into a double knot, and I could tell you stories of his ridiculous physicality that I personally witnessed, he is a pacifist, nonviolent, quite gentle for someone with farm hands. His nephew barely has a HS education, though I would consider him extremely financially successful, as is everyone with a share in the business thanks to the farm's success. But he is young, thinks he knows everything but doesn't know anything, drives a $100K pickup and thinks a lot of himself, as success can have that effect. He drives a planter, and that is all he knows. He doesn't have any education in the sciences that would lend themselves to farming, such as agronomy, genetics, biology, ecology, meteorology, business, economics or engineering. I'd be very surprised if he knew algebra. My friend has a mechanical engineering degree from a high ranking engineering university, and he worked on that farm for 40 years under his grandfather, then his father. For the last 2 decades, though not a mechanic, he's fixed the broken equipment, which broke down all the time, and kept it running, saving the farm untold amounts for this alone, and ran the front office, and also handled sales, as well as driving a combine, harvester, delivering product with ten wheelers, or whatever else he needed to do. I don't think his brothers recognized his value, and I don't understand how they're getting along without him. He knew what he was leaving behind, actually got a fair settlement, but accounting, and it is controlling actually, is easy money to him compared to farming. Farming is extremely lucrative, but there are far easier ways to make money. And if his nephew ever does get control of the farm, it will not last, because he is an uneducated moron that is mentally ill and abusive. That he is a Millennial is incidental. He's young, but also identifiably a narcissist, and I should have just said that and left what generation American he was out of it. I believe the children are our future. Millennials, as sensitive as they can be at times (if hn comments are any indicator), and maybe it is just that they get too much unjustified criticism, are going to save the world, I have no doubt about that. And I am and should be grateful to them.
- mcphage 3y ago
  > Millennials, as sensitive as they can be at times They are sensitive. Thankfully, not as sensitive as the generations that would riot if the wrong kind of person drank from their water fountain.

helf 3y ago

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