Back 50 plus years ago the ground in this neighborhood was never highly productive so just about everybody worked with the neighbor as you could not afford to own everything. Most farms owned 2 tractors at a minimum and a few had 3. The co-op'ing ended during the 1980's.
We have the same problem of a few BTO's trying to hog everything today. I think that they are sowing the seeds of their demise whether they can see it or not. The fewer the people with a direct connection to farming the more people will be less inclined to support US farming either politically or economically. Demand for milk would be fraction of what it is which is already severely affecting the industry if there was no demand for cheese or ice cream. I go into the grocery store on Friday and see maybe 70-80 gallons of fluid product in a city of 10,000 plus supporting another 10,000 or more outside that little city. Yes, that grocery is not the only game in town but it is the largest store. People go to college and some go into fields concerning food research. Things such as artificial protein are being worked on and the predictions are artificial food will be widely spread in the next couple of generations. So far the machinery manufacturers have been able to get farmers to absorb prices with reduced units going out the door. At what point will the farmers who are left figure that they can't afford a million dollar tractor or combine because there are not the acres in play on the land rental market to make it pay. When equipment production hits a certain minimum what decisions are made in terms of continuing to operate that factory?
Don't get me wrong as I understand the world does not sit still. I get that some people just do not make good farmers and the best thing that they could do is sell to somebody more capable and has more financial means. Having said that I think we are past the happy medium point of ridding inefficiency in the industry and flat out gutting good employment opportunities for minute incremental gains. I have to wonder what the son of one of the dealers who brought big iron lines such as Steiger and Will-Rich to New York thinks anymore as the dealership struggles to survive because the customer numbers keep shrinking in general. What the fertilizer dealer thinks who bent over backwards for a BTO's business years ago only to see that BTO abandon him. Sometimes in a society you have to look past other measures such as efficiency and look at the human factor. Sorry if I rambled but I have been kind of tired the past couple of days.
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Today's Featured Article - A Lifetime of Farm Machinery - by Joe Michaels. I am a mechanical engineer by profession, specializing in powerplant work. I worked as a machinist and engine erector, with time spent overseas. I have always had a love for machinery, and an appreciation for farming and farm machinery. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Not a place one would associate with farms or farm machinery. I credit my parents for instilling a lot of good values, a respect for learning, a knowledge of various skills and a little knowledge of farming in me, amo
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