I have discovered my new "No Farms No Food" bumper sticker.

[JonBailey64]

From this on-line source:

http://www.farmland.org/default.asp

I was there asked the question why I wanted to save farms and here is my answer:

"More farms everywhere means more LOCAL produce and animal food products available for humans and their pets to consume. The closer to home our food is grown, the better quality it usually is overall. More regional farms widespread means less demand for factory farms which often degrade food quality, freshness and wholesomeness and often translate to more animal suffering. More farms also means more opportunities for American citizens to earn a living." 

I also particpated in their petition to save America's farms. 

We need lower populations of humans and as much preservation of our fertile lands for our future long-term sustainability on this planet. 

[Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^)]

When the National Socialist Workers Party ( Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei . The shorthand Nazi was formed from the first two syllables of the German pronunciation of the word "national" ) get into full control, they will set up collective farms to grow food for those that they choose to allow to eat. If you have any complaint with them, let them know how you feel, just before they escort you to your new concentration camp home.

[BA Deere]

As someone who was born with a "strong back and a weak mind" I am sympathetic to your point of view, however sometime in the late 80`s farming was unofficially declared a "bussiness" and not a "way of life".  If it cames to sitting out in an open station tractor in the 98º heat cultivating in the dust or chopping ice and watering cattle in -22º weather ...I really believe I could "take" the fools out there.  But when it comes to "spending themselves rich" putting up big hog setups and having satellites guide their 48 row planters...they will eventually win just as the jackhammer killed John Henry. 

Maybe, I could build a "time machine" and go back to the 1960`s when I think I`d be more comfortable  🙂

[bruce MN]

Just like BA I deeply sypmathize with your views here.  It should be that way but won't ever.  Sorry.  I beleive jput correctly described the problem in one ofhis posts below when he said he had never seen a free standing small farm of the scale you seem to desire make it without internal subsidization.  Either from another income or money brought in up front. 

I wish I had a dollar for every well meaning hipster and greenie who has told us that we should takeour old buildings and lots and raise low input pigs and chickens because there is such a great demand for them.  Except for the fact that it takes money to stock and maintain any sort of livestock enterprise and that you can't sell the products that people want (hams, bacon and breasts) without an outlet for the rest of the critters and if you were to sell them directly you'd need to have them slaughtered under insppection and any other number of factors that would make it necessary to get at least twice commodity price for the WHOLE animal....good luck with that. And you would need volume to make a living...which is what spawned intensive production.

But more than anything, and bear with me until you have read and digested this as it isn't a linear connection. But it is, more than the factors listed above or any others that those 2 guys may have brought up, why you will never be able to.  At least not here.  Maybe in Belize or Lesotho or someplace like that...but not here or any other well resourced nation:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/the-rich-country-trap/?_r=0

[r3020]

---

@JonBailey64 wrote:

From this on-line source:

http://www.farmland.org/default.asp

I was there asked the question why I wanted to save farms and here is my answer:

"More farms everywhere means more LOCAL produce and animal food products available for humans and their pets to consume. The closer to home our food is grown, the better quality it usually is overall. More regional farms widespread means less demand for factory farms which often degrade food quality, freshness and wholesomeness and often translate to more animal suffering. More farms also means more opportunities for American citizens to earn a living." 

I also particpated in their petition to save America's farms. 

We need lower populations of humans and as much preservation of our fertile lands for our future long-term sustainability on this planet. 

---

I get nevous anytime someone starts to talk about the need for a lower population of humans.

[bruce MN]

I would too.

[schnurrbart]

Just read a fiction book by Dan Brown--Inferno--where this very subject was the story line. Some mad scientist was going to unleash a bioweapon to kill off approximately 50% of the human race to "save" the human race. I can see some super genius like craig and his brother doing something like that to save the "conservative" race!!

[Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^)]

Ok, who spilled the beans??!? 😉

[bruce MN]

PS Jon....this is more on that.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/03/in-india-a-spectre-haunting-us-all/

Those who find themselves able to to use financialization and other perversiions of modern capitalism and technology to set the parameters for who gets to eat what.  That's difficult to transpond over on to our corn based system, but it's "in there somewhere":

[jput]

As I posted to wild John,  you don't just grow a product where there's no market or one where transportation costs eats up any profits.   When the wise old ones grew hemp for the WW2 need of rope,  the tall,  bulky stuff was cut with sickle mowers,  loaded on wagons and the hemp mill was 10 miles or less down the road.    I recall when canning factories had pea viners strategically located a close distance from the fields growing the peas.   Again,  a bulky product to deal with, but without an end market for the hemp,  the unpopular beef or pork cuts,  you're going no where,  just as ostritch,  emu,  chinchilla,  worm farm,  llama,  etc.  ended up with little to no markets for the finished product. 

I crunched the numbers years back on organic row crops,  but hauling them to market ate the profits.   So I do commodity grains and attempt to lock in profitable contracts when the appear. 

Bumper stickers aren't too tasty to eat,  even with salad dressing on them. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=201pgTaEseQ

I don't run down those who choose to farm certified organic nor those who plant non-gm crops.   Nor is it appropriate for them to criticize the choices other farmers make in what's best for their farms and nearby markets.