
According to Bill
When we moved to this farm in 1982 we had four different sets of neighbors living in houses less than a mile away. Those building sites now all lay empty. We have people farming the land right by us that I don’t even know. Some of them travel over fifty miles to get here. They come in with giant rigs, farm fast, and get out. As I work in my fields I marvel at the giant planters being pulled up and down the road, some capable of planting as many as 24 rows at a time. Most of the people driving by, I don’t even know. What a change in agriculture!
Talk turns to how many “thousand” acres the big farmers farm. It brings back some thoughts I had a few years ago about defining “big” farmers and “small” farmers. Most people want to define the scope of your operation purely by the number of acres you farm. I see it in a different light.
To me a “big” farmer is one who:
1) Makes a “big” deal out of taking care of the natural resources on his/her land. Often times, operators who farm thousands of acres don’t have the time or incentive to worry about eroded ditches, worn out fences or dilapidated building sites.
2) Makes a big deal out of creating a “sustainable” farming system, both financially and environmentally. Is the person who makes only $20 an acre farming thousands of acres and only does that by relying on government subsidies and crop insurance, while taking away acres from a beginning farmer, actually a “sustainable” farmer for his/her community?
3) Makes a “big” deal out of trying to develop an opportunity for his/her children or some other young people to have an opportunity to farm.
4) Makes a “big” effort to play a role in the leadership in their local communities. Often times, people who farm ultra large chunks of land just don’t have, or want to have, the time to help their local churches, school groups, 4-H etc. Or worse yet, they don’t live in the community they farm in and don’t care about local issues.
If a “small” farmer is the opposite of these things listed above, then I believe that someone farming thousands of acres, driving millions of dollars worth of the biggest and newest machinery, could actually be classified as a “small” farmer. And yes, there are those who farm small farms and also make a small contribution to the care of their land and community. The moral to this story is if the United States taxpayer is going to continue subsidizing agriculture, they need to put some thought into what their priorities are.