Market Farming

["Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>]

RDH wrote:
> I have to wonder what you have been smoking to think that there
> has been no
> destruction of the rural society.  What is your definition of
> rural society?
> You are the only one I have heard to take that position in the last 40
> years.

Negative thinking, as you express, will claim things are dying when in fact,
they are changing. The rural landscape has been changing for over 100 years.
I am amazed that people will bemoan that farms are going under (which is not
totally true) and that there are only "x" farmers left. But the truth is
that most of the farms, and in our state it means dairy farms, went out of
business decades ago. It is as if people are unable to understand history
and they do not look at the long term picture.

Would you argue that the 7 cow dairy farm of 1930 is still viable and should
still be protected? Or the 15-20 cow farm of the 1950's? Or the 40 cow of
the 1970's etc. Depending upon your geographical area, you can use the farm
type of your choice.

If we did not have any developed farm land in a given area, and suddenly it
was being developed for farm use, people would be all worried about how
things were being destroyed from the natural environment. So it is a matter
of perception.

The idea that changes in farming and changing demographics are somehow bad
or destructive is not a mainstream kind of thinking. And it certainly is not
healthy to base things on negativity. Many things are changing in society.
Even though we may not always agree that it is good, it is necessary.

Look what has happened in Japan for over a decade now with a really stagnant
economy due to their Keiretsu system and inability to liquidate bad debt due
to loss of face?

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com