Up for sale: 378-year old farm

[Phidippides]

Interesting:

Eleven generations and 378 years later, his field-weary descendants ? arthritic from picking fruits and vegetables and battered by competition from supermarkets and pick-it-yourself farms ? are selling their spread, which is among the oldest continuously operated family farms in America.

After 378 years, NH family farm goes up for sale

[scout1067]

Very interesting story.  It is very hard to make a family farm break even, much less make a profit anymore.  Add to that that farming is backbreaking work and it is no wonder family farms are going under.  Too much work and not enough money.

[arbarnhart]

The old story goes something like this...
Reporter: "What will you do, now that you have won the lottery?"
Farmer: "Just keep farming until the money runs out."

The other story is how mobile American society has become. How many people today live within 20 miles of where the previous 3 generations are living or did live? It used to be very common. There are a lot more families that have that many generations of farming or a trade passed down, but not in one spot.

[Phidippides]

Right - I think it probably has to do with mobility, economics, and options.  Today people have a lot more career options than they did in the past.  Interestingly, I read a story about a month ago about how there was an increase in "renter" farms in Massachusetts, where people would rent up to a few acres to grow crops and then sell the harvest.  So it's not that farmers cannot survive, it's just that they can't use the same kind of business model of the 19th century.

[scout1067]

Some food for thought. Agricultural commodity prices are seasonally volatile but overall prices farmers get for wheat have not risen a whole lot in the last 100 years.  according to the USDA in 1908 wheat was $.98 per bushel and in 2008 it was $6.78.  That is only 678%, according to The Inflation Calculator cumulative inflation in the US over that period has been 2367%.  No wonder farmers have a hrd time making ends meet.

[Phidippides]

I think that is to be expected in a free market...farms have been more productive (herbicides, pesticides, machinery, bio-engineering, etc.) and global markets have been tapped to increase the supply of wheat. While demand has also grown, supply has simply grown more, thereby bringing down the price.  

How can farmers survive?  Last summer some friends invited me to a "pizza farm".  I think it was a normal farm, but it had a few outdoor pizza ovens and they would make pizzas with ingredients grown right there.  The pizzas were expensive (around $25/pizza) but they were quite good, and the place was pretty packed even though the place did not advertise and didn't have any signs leading to the place.  People brought their own beverages, lawn chairs, and ate outside on the large lawn.  When I went, the farm only did the pizza sales one day a week during the summer.  I thought it was a really ingenious way for the farm to survive and probably make some pretty good $$ by catering to people who wanted an alternative to the typical restaurant experience.

[scout1067]

Yes, yields have increased.  My point is that farming is a very demanding business and it is very hard for a family farm to beat the costs that economy of scale gives to the big ag companies.

[Phidippides]

Yeah, I agree.  I do think that family farms can, in some circumstances, fill in more "specialty" niches.  Actually, I think that's the only viable option for them in the long run.  But for the most part, the "family farm" is a relic of America's past.

[arbarnhart]

I live in what used to be roughly the edge of the suburbs and have seen many nearby farms bulldozed into new developments. I thought they were all happily cashing in (and many were/are) but I read an article about a few that were pretty much forced to because they can't afford the property taxes. The land was appraised for what it could be used for instead of what it was being used for; a pretty major disconnect in how property is taxed. It's even worse when a city gets overbuilt or housing sales are down for other reasons; developers aren't looking for new properties unless the price is low. So the owners end up having to sell below the tax value because of the tax value. Something is very wrong with that logic...

[Aetheling]

Family farms ?? Of course !!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11061624

When did this kind of threat start ?

[Phidippides]

Here's another way farmers can fill a niche in the modern world - Milchtankstelle.