3 ms·
Corporate farms seem inevitable, even if they aren't desirable. How does it make sense to put the burden of managing fluctuations in costs and yields on a singl
by dkarl 3y ago
Corporate farms seem inevitable, even if they aren't desirable. How does it make sense to put the burden of managing fluctuations in costs and yields on a single person or family, farming in a single area? The financial side alone must be complicated enough to be a full-time job. Then you have the questions of predicting demand for different crops, staying up-to-date with farming techniques for different crops, organic and other certifications, learning different techniques and products as the climate changes, hiring and managing labor, managing employee benefits, how could a single person do all that and still do a competitive job compared to a company with specialists handling all of those roles, not to mention that they can hedge against fluctuations in local conditions by diversifying across geographic areas?
Imagine trying to succeed as a one-person company against Google or Amazon in the production of a literal commodity.
- phil21 3y ago> Then you have the questions of predicting demand for different crops, staying up-to-date with farming techniques for different crops, organic and other certifications, learning different techniques and products as the climate changes, hiring and managing labor, managing employee benefits, how could a single person do all that and still do a competitive job compared to a company with specialists handling all of those roles, not to mention that they can hedge against fluctuations in local conditions by diversifying across geographic areas? Centralized planning of food production has never gone well in human history as far as I'm aware. I'm not certain I'd like 2 or 3 giant corporations deciding how much corn will be grown next season to maximize profits, each eroding those safety margins a couple percentage points ever year for decades until something unexpected happens. 50,000 smaller corporations, sure. But that's just another form of family farming.
- mywittyname 3y ago> I'm not certain I'd like 2 or 3 giant corporations deciding how much corn will be grown next season to maximize profits, There are several sectors of the agricultural industry that are monopolies/oligopolies. And those tend towards making more money via producing more rather than artificial scarcity. If orange prices rise too much, then some other commodity will replace it. So instead of artificially restricting orange supplies, the industry spends tons of money researching and bringing to market more products that use oranges. Diversity and vertical integration are the name of the game here. Even the pervasive corn industry isn't immune to being replaced by competition if prices go up.