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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Grapes of Wrath the sequel

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: mdnagel@verizon.net
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Grapes of Wrath the sequel
  • Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:01:08 -0500 (CDT)

Not enough data to make conclusions...

I believe that this point had been previously made (in other postings), that not all acres are equal.  50 acres in Ohio is different than 50 acres in Arizona/Alaska etc..

As a regular follower/subsciber of The Stockman Grass Farmer I'm pretty much convinced that livestock is essential for maintaining soil fertility, which would mean that farm sizes would likely need to be a bit on the bigger (not HUGE) size, though, once again, it depends on one's locale.


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


Oct 11, 2009 08:33:16 PM, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

You're probably right, one acre through the seasons. But I have to agree totally, for 50 acres to support 50 people, they definitely would have to be on those acres. I think labor and transportation factors come in there. I think they'd have to be doing the work and not be someplace else. More thoughts on this?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 10/11/2009 at 5:29 PM Dan Conine wrote:

>>
>> Always appropriate, isn't it. As for us here we grow for markets on less
>> than a quarter acre. It's not a living of course, and with a short
>> frost-free season, poor soil to start with and very low rainfall it's too
>> much work for us.
>My father acquired a 1300 acre farm for 100 bucks an acre in 1975. Being
>mostly swamp and tundra, it barely supported 100 milking head and the
>other supporting cast (pigs, calves, heifers, etc). I thought of it as a
>massive farm.
>
>I now own 50 acres, and I have learned to think of it as a massive
>place. It is a size which requires machinery, but even with machinery,
>one person cannot be on the whole place in their mind. Regardless of the
>labor, I have found that an acre is as much as one person can properly
>keep in useful focus throughout the seasons. More than that and the
>details suffer.
>
>I now understand how this farm could be 50 families' source of food and
>income, but they would have to BE here in order for it to happen. We
>have spent the last 100 years destroying that opportunity with petroleum
>and money as motive.
>
>Dan C.
>
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