Life Lessons from Farming | Victor Davis Hanson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ค. 2024
- Watch the full episode here: • Farming, Warfare, and ...
This is an excerpt from the Larry Arnn Show with author and historian Victor Davis Hanson.
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Politicians don’t know really what farmers go through.
Or what most people go through
Politicians are the exact opposite of farmers.
Yes, hence former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his failed presidential campaign...
In Iowa our politicians must learn what farmers do…. Thank you Senator Grassley & Ernst
Politicians don't know anything except lying most corrupt humans on the planet.
In my high school parking lot (late 70s) in Indiana, virtually all the pickup trucks had a rifle or shotgun in a rack in the back window. Funny thing was, there were no 'mass shootings'
Maybe That's why . . .
☆
I grew up on a farm with never ending work. Gave me an incredible work ethic and taught me how to solve problems and fix things. Wish I were still there.
Same!
Why did you leave?
I grew up on a farm with never ending work. Gave me an incredible work ethic and taught me how to solve problems and fix things. I'm still there. Wish I wasn't broke and tired and busy always. Ha
@@gerrylarson3675 Lol, I understand! 👍🚜
My mother was 1 of 10 children who grew up on their Mother and Dad’s farm. They were totally self-sufficient and I attribute my grandparents great wisdom to that fact in that they were God loving, God fearing, hard-working, resourceful and kind people. The kind we all want to live next to in this world. These attributes have become more and more scarce as time as moved on and we are dependent on so many others for our basic needs. I wish we could return to those times. We do not appreciate the vast resources we now have and take too much for granted. Victor Davis Hanson is a national treasure! He is of my generation; the influence of this and past generations will soon be lost forever. I wish we could say we were leaving our world in a better place but sadly we are not. Radical views appear to be consuming the entire world at the same time. Our sense of humanity has diminished, as has our belief in one far greater than ourselves, the Divine, God. It is heartbreaking to see the continual fomenting of hate and outrage. This is the result of the absence of God from our daily lives, our institutions, our schools and yes, even our churches and places of worship. It happened on our watch. We need to try to find our way back…or all will be lost.
Well said.
Farming teaches you that life is hard, everyday is a battle between Life and Death and eventually Death wins out, but Life even though it always ends is worth the struggle. Also you see how tied/dependent we are to the land.
Victor reminds me of an older construction worker my dad hired-- very smart and common-sensical. (Carl, unfortunately, never got to go to college, which was a crying shame). Initially, I resented working for my dad's business, having always been at the top of my class. But, like VDH (and Judy Collins), I learned a lot from looking at life from both sides (the physical and the academic), and grew to appreciate the "real" jobs Larry suggested young people get. I went off to get degrees at a few prestigious colleges, and now also appreciate the perfect balance that Victor mentioned-- the balance of not becoming too brutish or too effete. I'm afraid men like Victor are growing rarer by the day, in a country that hires illegals to do what remains of physical jobs. And in a country where the Woke are feverishly trying to emasculate new generations of males.
Agree
"And in a country where the Woke are feverishly trying to emasculate new generations of males."
So very true. Easier for women to control. (And of course, emasculated males.)
I think Carl was fortunate he didn't go to college
As a born and bred Californian (residing in the town in which VDH works) who is now nearly 60 years old, I love to listen to VDH speak about his California experience. My experience was in the suburbs, not like his on the farm in the Central Valley. Today, after a career in finance, I spend much of my time trying to grow things, mostly fruit trees. Improving and caring for my land makes me happy and content. I wholeheartedly agree with VDH (and Thomas Jefferson) that small independent farming is so very important in the formation of strong and virtuous citizens.
When I lived in Nebraska in the 1970's almost every high school student was a farmer. They all drove a pickup truck with a gun rack in the back. It wasn't odd at all. I got the best education during that time.
I love VDH. He reminds me of my grandfather so much in looks and demeanor, that it's like talking with him again. Good interview.
Victor Hanson and Larry Arnn , two of the great educators of our time . I am the son of two wonderful people . Both grew up on farms and swore their children would not . After living in Texas for twenty two years and working there as a carpenter my wife and I moved back to Pennsylvania and bought a small farm near Gettysburg . My mother was still living and I was now close enough to take care of her. Mother thought we were crazy but I cannot imagine living any where else . Farming is a good life that puts one in touch with Gods creation !
What a great guy! I grew up on a farm with 10 kids, hated it, l, learned to work very hard. Hated being poor. Would go back to grad school if he was the professor.
Like Oscar Wilde said, ‘Who, being loved, is poor?’
I too grew up one a small dairy farm in N.W. Washington. My Dad ran the farm for 43 years, a very humble hard working man. I never heard the statement “work ethic” till later in life. But it is consist trait in those who grew up on the farm.
My father-in-law was a second generation dairy farmer here in upstate New York, and sold his small farm (just about 100 head of Holstein) after it became clear that his 5 daughters (including my future wife) would have no interest in it when they grew up.
I don’t think many people appreciate the challenges that farmers & ranchers face in their livelihood.
I'm someone who grew up and WORKED on a multi generation family farm. VDH articulates what I've thought for years. His every word rings true
A young farmer once asked an older farmer, “How long you been farming old man?” He replied, “45 years” and the young man said, “Oh wow, you must know everything about farming then!” To which the old man said, “No son, I have 45 different farming experiences, I’m no expert…. But I have learned a thing or two.”
This conversation is long overdue 100% common sense.
It's nice to see an interviewer look genuinely interested and listen hard.
I would love for you to go to schools and take different vegetables and ask children what type of vegetables they are and see what they say you be shock. farmers are the backbone of America, even smaller farmers. Farmers should be supported by all means.
I agree with you. But, you could do the same thing
@@JohnDoe-xg4yr I do that why I said it!
Just quit over-regulating farming and ranching!
I worked at sea all my life as a ships captain then we bought a farm now I'm a horticulturist a vet a mechanic a plumber an electrician a builder a boiler maker a fencer an accountant a machine operator an arborist a tire repair man a hunter.
If this is retirement I think I'll go back to work.
Lol!
You have it made.
A good retirement . . .
☆
What a treat! Thank you! Victor is one of my favorites as well as you are Larry. Both My husband and I have to work in order to support the farm. I try and grow what veggies I can in 62 frost-free days but if we didn't work our jobs there's no way the farm could pay. When my coworker scoffed at the price I could do a steer at today, I had to remind him that we feed him for 2 years and all of that cost a lot of money. We are all dependent on the land in some shape or form. We can't eat rocks and dirt
It is not surprising that Mr Hanson has roots in farming.
I'm a businessperson but have a very large "garden" on our property. There is nothing more satisfying than growing that garden, maintaining it, tilling it, harvesting then canning the produce. Sweat, physical labor and the satisfaction of a job well done. It's small-scale farming, I don't depend on it to eat or for income, but you can't beat the end result of working the land. It relieves the stress of my regular job duties and related commute.
How straight are my lines … Amen ✨🙏🏼✨
VDH is a man I would be glad to work for on any farm. TY always VDH.
Elderly couple going out to milk the cows in the evening. Tornado came through, picked them up and dropped them on the road two miles away. Guy drives up, says to the crying woman, are you hurt? She says no, I'm just so happy. It's the first time in thirty years we've been off the farm.
Happy belated birthday!!! Thank you for what you do.
Such a wonderful and a great man.
Rural farm life doing something done yourself makes you confidently self reliant. My great grandmother lived longer than anyone sense. She lived to 98 in same rural self reliant community. Good video. Robert Castello Dixie General Store Heflin Alabama
Interesting how rounded and well balanced farmers have to be!
A Personal Anecdote... When working for a local gas company and interviewing Engineers for a position, I realized that among the many interviewed (Civil, Mechanical, Petroleum, etc.) that the most rounded field of studies was from an Agricultural Engineer. He had studied engineering areas at depth, such as: fluids, soils, electricity, chemistry, statics, and dynamics, as well as the math requirements. From that day on I had a lot of respect for this -rarely found- field of Engineering.
Farmer here, small scale, not like modern large scale. Grew up on small dairy farm, parents sold the cows in 95 and my dream ended. Went into beef until 2010 and parents sold the farm and that dream ended. Now do not own a single acre, rent about 75-80 to grow feed for my horses, using old methods. It is all I can afford, low tech, stuff I can rebuild and fix myself. Work in the bush in the winter doing selective logging with horses. Small potatoes life. nomen meum est agricola...
When I was a kid everybody knew my business and I hated it. When I was an adult everybody knew my business and I loved it.
I am no farmer but I do gardening jobs and I know the feeling of living with the soil and with nature and that it is real and full of mysteries and that you can't control it. Autonomy is also important.
Farming of any kind, animal husbandry, grain or multi-crop farming, requires thinking ahead many months or even years. That was my surprising revelation as I retired from desk work to a small farm.
It's beautiful that you would go to great lengths to make your farm the way your father wanted it. That sentiment is touching.
I appreciate Victor Hanson and like to listen to his insights. I too grew up on a farming the same era (I'm a bit older than Mr. Hanson). We learn many valuable lesson on the farm as Mr. Hanson has pointed out but one thing that he hasn't included that farming teaches us how depended we are on God - in Him we live and move and have our being as the Holy scriptures say. We can't control the weather, the markets our health etc we rely upon Him for everything even for the very next breath we take. On Sunday's our farm communities were more apt to be in church worshipping God through Christ and looking to Him in faith.
Happy Birthday, Victor Davis Hanson. My husband and I enjoyed your presentation on "Life Lessons from Farming." He appreciates your daily commentaries. I loved learning about your Greek studies. Thank you for sharing farm memories of a horseshoe and a barn and how farmers are attuned to nature. 🙂
Things are different today. All things Victor talks about are/were family farm experiences. Family farms here in the USA are pretty much a historic novelty anymore.
If you are lucky enough to continue farming as a family farm today, several things Victor mentions are still real and applicable. The connection with nature. The connection with the land, and the reliance on the weather are a few of the main things.
It is certainly not a stress-free life, but the type of stress is very different. There is a confidence behind the stress that you have the capacity to improvise and make changes to make ends meet.
Family farms will come back for farming to succeed. No one really wants to work for Bill Gates.
My favorite intellectual!!! Happy Birthday 🎉🎉🎉
Happy Birthday Victor. 🍇🫐🍋🍅
there was a time when American men didn't trust those who did not grow at a least garden, every year. it keeps you in touch with the earth, and life itself.
Nice little interview. Love the story at the end about Victor’s first day.
Self-reliance is the basis of freedom. If you're beholden to a centralized power, whether it be corporate or government, you are not a free person😊
I've never seen so much VDH content and I love it!
Happy Birthday 🎊🎁
I have listened to this interview 3 times. Really good content here. When VDH speaks he has my attention.
Love VDH
My family were farmers on one side and laborers on the other. All I wanted to do was farm or work to improve life for others.
I was raised on a farm. It gets u ready for life.. Fo sure
That's why I like to listen to Joel Salatin. (and Victor Davis Hanson)
The original American small farmer was considered the only independent man in America. He grew what he needed to eat and feed his stock. A industrious man could plant extra to sell.
A ruined crop would not ruin the farmer. He could still eat.
He might be cash poor, but wealthy in time, family, and was his own boss.
That didn’t change until largesse became the norm. Profit became the only measure of success. Debt became insurmountable. Too much debt would eventually cost you the farm.
A sure thing would bring the offer to “bet the farm” on it- a certain sign of the value, as well as the certainty of the prediction.
My how times have changed.
Fascinating!
Victor is a very interesting fellow!
people complain about the cost of food and demand it be cheap and then throw money at wasteful things with no complaint.
So good. I grew up on a farm, don’t really farm it anymore, but there is so much truth here. The old building thing made me laugh a bit… SO TRUE. Great story. “And God made a Farmer”
Wow! Love VDH!
I grew up on the farm in NE Indiana in the 1950s and 60s. A wonderful time for me. Dad and Mom were great parents. My cousins loved coming out to the farm because mom was always baking pies and cakes. No one ever talked about money, the color of other people. We had a quarry on the 40 acre farm. We were fishing all the time. I learned growing up I don't need what the world offers. Jesus Christ is all I need. Greed will mess your mind up. I am 76 now and going strong.
I really enjoy Victor.
Happy Birthday 💐
That was good. Great interview.
This is interesting! What a CB perspective
Enjoy your videos Mr Hanson as a gardener who depends on what he grows so very true
Farmers know how to do things, make things, fix things, grow foods, raise animals, help people live by being all-around horticultural, environmental, technological, and business geniuses.
Small farms are generally the healthiest most independent lifestyle in the world.
Gotta have brains to be a good farmer. Pennies count!
Send all politicians to go farm for 5 years. Without any money in grants or any money of their own or family.
ThankQ
I farm. Love it. My government is nature first. The other government is just an other complication to take into account.
There is so much excellent content from VDH and others, and why isn’t it shown in high schools? Even 5 min clips would be helpful to students.
Ah ha! I see now why VDH has so much common sense and wisdom. If you grew up on a farm, you have been blessed.
Love this! ❤ spot on & extremely well articulated. We have been involved in the livestock industry for several generations. Very true about being in tune with God's creation & yet not harming it!
The climate activists are so out of touch with the reality of nature! I would like to have just 1 activist spend 1 year with us. Could be life changing for them!
Always remember, you are at the will of mother nature
Mr Hansons description of how his father instructed him to do wiring reminded me of how my father would say to my mother. He's my son he should know so go figure it out. After some time i would.
Have been a cattle farmer here in Australia for the last 45 years it has been alot of tough times and some good times but at the end of the day you dont make money till you sell your farm.
Farmers have to plan, one has to know the weather, the product. One has to wake up at the crack of dawn, be self reliant, work physically and maybe take care of animals as well. Farmers are the backbone of society.
Fifty six years old, still live on a Midwest farm. Two or three adults have to work in the city to make ends meet. Small family farms have been slowly crushed by healthcare costs, climate change, factory food culture and dismissal by urban folk. No wonder most children grow up and flee as soon as they reach adulthood.
I’m proud to be a third generation farmer
Sadly none of my children want to continue the tradition 😢
Me too. The farm dies with me
O well you'll just have to cash it in then eh thanks dad.
You really are the only one person that has logic. The rest are buffons. Much ❤ .
The natural component, the nature components he speaks of, etc, evade most modern farmers too. It’s now conquer and control, and non-regenerative. Take no pleasure in mentioning this but, regrettably, it’s true.
VDH. The voice of Real America.
Thx for all your counsel !
🇺🇸
Your comment re others knowing where you were, you werent moving .... it was the same for my friends. I married and also became, a dairy farmer. Over the years, missionaries came ho.e every 2 or 4 years and stayed with us. We never moved. Many of their other contacts moved often & lost touch.
Most all of the land around the farm I own and operate had a farmstead on every quarter section a hundred years ago, these families supported small towns, township or less schools. Kids learned values, valuable life skills and common sense. Its a wonderful way of life, unfortunately the grind of society and modernization has made farms much larger, the small town economy that was supported by them, the strong value system and the common sense has crumbled unfortunately. It made the greatest generation. I lament its loss.
Dear Sir. I was told that Jewell was not spoken to at college in CA. Until she was told that it was frowned upon to keep a knife in your belt? I was kicked out of LANCE in LANL for having a shotgun in my truck? The guard asked if it was loaded?
Farmers have to think in 4D. Markets, weather, available help, and abilities to do the myriad of tasks correctly every day, all day, all the time. We have about a 2% retention rate in our children becoming farmers.
When young I went to Arkansas to visit Grand Dad, and walked his fields of cotton.. Not to far from Poncahontas AR lol
Would anyone translate this into German? I have a brother in law who would just love this.
Get real. Germans aren’t troglodytes. They understand English darlin
Unfortunately most Farmers nowadays are dependent on government handouts.
Ah! Yes, they speak the truth about farming. If trying to make a living by growing a crop-for-profit is not challenging enough, throw in a dairy herd for good measure! A good life, not always the best living. I'm not sure how anyone can do it without an intimate, working relationship with our Creator, Jesus Christ. He has kept our family going in spite of the odds stacked against anyone desiring to make a living off the land.
The nostalgia of farming, may be fun to grow up on and think about, even talk about it as a way of life that seemed simplier, and how those childhood memories may be fun. But, farming is not nostalgic. It requires a lot of hard work, which is no different than producing your own products, even if you live in a city. I disagree that government would cease to work properly if people lived in cities, and in our day and age, as most work is move to remote work, the advantage that cities used to have is now changing again. Cities have to become incubators of entrepreneurship.
Glad I became a Machinist with 42 years experience now Wouldn’t trade my skills for a stack of degrees 100 feet tall
That's a fantastic trade to be in. Good for you.
😂 Stay until the end and laugh, laugh, laugh.
If one can implement some good magic and with the right stones one can produce fruit and some other that will be unmatched. I have a stone of Sunn Hemp, PEARS, Apples, PUMPKINS, Peaches. Do love the Myths surrounding them and all the tales about them. Would love to see if they are true or not. When one studie the stones it does seem like those myths are true with the images on the stones. Those stones have all the right frequencies Vibrations and Energies on them. There are even faces on the fruits will see if there are names on too. Will know if they are all true after this season.
If you ate today, thank a farmer
No farmer, no life! Thank you, farmers. Sincerely!
The Barkley’s never had any issues farming and ranching.
Do you have a small or big chunk of land? If you have some land, do you have fruit and nut trees planted? If you missed your chance for 2023, you got 3 months to plan for 2024. I help someone manage a fruit tree orchard and have some fruit tree experience over the last 16 years. I'm no expert by any means, but I have experience with nearly 50 varieties of fruit trees.
You know, even if you got fruit trees...they are not permanent. An orchard is continually losing trees. If you wait to find this out, you will be 5 or 10 years behind from where you could be. If disease or animals don't get your fruit trees, a windstorm may uproot, or lightning may split the tree in two. You have to be proactive and not reactive. In other words, you are never finished with your orchard...you keep planting fruit and nut trees forever and ever...even after you plant the bulk of your orchard and think you are done. There is no time to lose with any of this. Some trees may take a decade to produce meaningfully...and then they die.
Some of you may not be the right disposition to grow gardens. But most anyone can grow fruit trees. Once trees are established, they generally don't need watering unless it is massive drought. The trees find their own water. But we are talking temperate climates, not the Mojave desert.
I gave up my garden after 12 years. To do gardens right you need to be a slave to them. I don't like being a slave to them. But I am successful with fruit trees...as long as you don't not require perfect fruit that needs spraying and chemicals. That is where I draw the line. If a fruit tree can't produce as-is, with only water...then it gets cut down and another tree takes its place.
Try to buy older trees that are more developed. Smallish, bare root trees are the worst to buy if you are in a hurry. You have rust, black knot, borers, rabbits can girdle the trees and deer can get a hard-on for your tree and rub it to death. Squirrels are a massive problem unless you have a large orchard of the same trees that produce at the same time and can feed the squirrels and you.
Squirrels can strip your fruit tree of all the fruit before it even ripens! And besides squirrels, their little relative, the chipmunk is a big problem with fruit trees. They live in long burrows and have big families. They can start stripping a peach tree before the peaches are as big as a grape. And they also love the fully ripened fruits...it just does not matter to them. You can trap them & poison them. Whatever you do...get rid of them!
To kill squirrels / chipmunks, forget BB guns...get the green rat poison blocks and zip tie a few of them to the trees. They will decimate the squirrel population for that season and scale it back some for the next as well. You can buy small traps that kill chipmunks, also put a small chunk of the rat poison near their burrow opening. If you get lucky they will bring the block into their burrow for the family to feast on. Just don't use full blocks, cut it into thirds so the little chipmunk can handle it. If you have animals that may eat the poison, put it in the burrow or use a bait station.
One Green Gage plum took 12 years to produce a meaningful crop...then it got black knot and was done for. After that, the rest of the 7 varieties of plums ALL got black knot and had to be cut down within 2 years. Wet and humid Z6 is not good for a lot of fruit trees, but it takes time to find out what works best in your zone. Time you don't have.
Same thing with an Empire Apple tree. It took over a decade to produce a decent crop. Wonderful apples, then it got a borer and died. A big, beautiful apple tree suddenly loses all its leaves as well as the crop that was set to grow that season. It is heartbreaking. Some trees are labelled wrong and not the right cultivar. Some fruit trees produce low quality fruit...even though the label shows the most delicious looking fruit. A trend lately with our changing climate is some trees are blooming early, then a frost hits and boom...the entire fruit crop is ruined for that season.
If you don't grow enough cherries, the birds will strip one or two cherry trees clean before the cherries can ripen. In other words, you have to plant lots of cherry trees that produce at the same time to feed the birds and yourself. One of the best, reliable and heavy producers with fruit trees are the Asian pear trees. Not all varieties are winners, but Olympic aka Korean Giant is good along with Raja Asian pear - they are 2 of the best. I can say that after 16 years of working with 5 varieties of Asian pears. When planting pears, try to get varieties resistant to fire blight. Depends on the local, but fire blight can be a big problem with pears.
Belle of Georgia is a nice white peach. Red Haven is a great yellow peach. But check the chill hours needed for the peach tree. Some trees only produce crops biennial aka every other year. The way you find that out, many times, is only after a few years of growing.
When setting up an orchard you need to plan if you want the crops to come in all at once for making preserves / canning or do you want the fruit crops staggered with early, medium and late harvest varieties. Plus, you may need a pollinator tree to produce a crop for certain trees. If you want to produce a crop into early winter / late fall...get a persimmon tree or 3. Jiro, Nakita's Gift, Hachiya or other varieties. Check out if you need a pollinator. That goes for many other fruit trees. Some are self-pollinating, others are not. And you need to see which trees are appropriate pollinators. One tree won't always pollinate another tree if they bloom too far apart. Lots to think about and no time to waste.
Fruit trees need to be survivalist under my watch, or they will die. I don't f around with the trees. Now, if I had unlimited land I would not care, the loafers can stay. But being short on land, no room for leaving loafers around...I cut em down ASAP. In the beginning I would give them years to develop and then cut em down.
Everyone should be required to work on a farm as a kid
Bump
If you want to understand sociology, watch a hog lot for an afternoon. You will know more than any phd out there.
SMALL farms... not farms with 1,000+ acres. I’ve dealt with farmers for decades and the large farms are crooked as can be. I’ve witnessed theft of all kinds and the lowest of moral ethics. I’ve seen a farmer split his farm into three entities... register those entities under his wife and children... then collect $300,000 max payment for each entity - per year, through the USDA (taxpayers), in combination with the yield generated. That’s criminal, and A LOT are involved. When the neighbor goes down and purchases a $1M combine each and every year... who employs illegals to do all field and mechanic work... that’s not what we call farming.
For a farmer trying to make a living on 100-1,000 acres, which is darn near impossible, they work hard and are truly self-reliant. Those are the People I’ve come to know who know what struggles mean and are of good character.
Live with dirt under your feet. You live a Godly life. Live with concrete under your feet. You live a druggy life. You wonder the streets , waiting on the US government. To help you. All is lost in the end. The we and they government. In God I trust. Later.
Still waiting to hear some "life lessons". Romanticizing "farming" does little to reveal life lessons.
Most who consider themselves farmers in this geographic region, flood their acres with herbicides, collect their taxpayer subsidized allotments, hand out cash payments for illegal immigrant labor and wait for the day they themselves can cash out, by receiving the big paycheck from a real estate developer.
As a farm for all my life and still farm, your description has some bits of truth to it, but is not nearly the truth at all. Herbicides are why the masses don't have to farm. Taxpayers' subsidies are reserved for lean times only, when farmers are going broke not because of bad business, but because of things outside their control. It is enough to keep food and
clothes on the table and on our backs. Illegals are not to be found here, and legal Latino's in very small numbers to this point. As for cashing out, most farms are multi-generational.
We never "cash out" as you say. The next generation will take the wheel. As for developers, not sure how many miles it would take to find one of those in many farm States.
Cities are a tiny part of the area we call farms. No one would pay any more for AG land to put a house on than a farmer would to farm that same land.
So for the most part, what you say is a dim reminder to all of us farmers who work so you can live in your city. We plow our own snow, drill and maintain our own wells and
septic systems. We raise our kids to understand that there will be good times and lean times, and you have to be able to survive the lean times. We have no city services you have to rely on. In short you haven't got the slightest clue of any of this. Are you a Democrat by chance? you know they hate everything and everyone. except another Democrat.
@@debi5292
This area used to be big in tobacco farming. You know, the crop that does nothing but kill?
Fortunes were made by "farming families" and those fine neighbors who were employed by the smoking industries.
After receiving millions of taxpayer dollars in a government buyout with taxpayer dollars, these fine, upstanding farmers just switched to other killer crops.
In this rural area, farms are just monocultures, now mainly two GMO crops, soybeans and corn. You can scan hundreds of acres. You will not find one weed in these fields.
You will also not find the flora and fauna that use to inhabit the fringes of small farms or the microbiology that use to inhabit healthy soil. Now, it is just dead dirt.
Despite your assertion, the agriculture industry receives billions of taxpayer dollars with subsidies, generous tax write-offs, income exclusions and depreciation schemes.
And don't forget about the government's "organic" fraud. Why should consumers have to pay more, not to be poisoned? That is, if you can trust the label, which you can't.
It isn't about providing high quality, safe, affordable food for consumers, but every participant in agriculture pursuits, wants the maximum ROI in the shortest time possible.
"No one would pay any more for AG land to put a house on than a farmer would to farm that same land." Maybe where you are, but not here.
In our once rural county, developers are covering up land, faster than politicians can rape the treasury. Why? Twofold mainly.
One, these romanticized "land stewards" want to bankroll their early retirement. Two, local politicians are ravenous wolves looking to increase their tax coffers.
(Did you know that VDH leases out his agricultural land to some big industrial company? When one peels back the cover, It's typically all about the money.
So much for "land stewardship".)
Finally, what is a "legal Latino"? I doubt that I have ever seen one and I see countless south-of-the-border folks.
Can't imagine how things can get worse, but it will. As the demographics in America change, the plight of future generations in America will continue their decline.
Interesting how you finalize your comment with a personal smear. That is so indicative of the society today, rural or otherwise.
P.S. You do understand that no one in America "owns" the property they live on, right? But that is a discussion for another day.
ALl wealth comes from the ground. Without dedicated farmers civilization would never have developed. The excess produced allowed others to develop e and enhance different skills restricted and seventeenth human existence. Eventually according humanity the privileged of frivolous and esoteric professions, amongst them entertainment and sports. ALL WEALTH COMES FROM THE GROUND ! Guardians fact, there is no debate.
We need farms and farmers. Latin and greek professors aren’t really necessarily for a real society, maybe in a rapidly declining civilization.