Like most of the policy discussions I've initiated here, there were generally no takers on the proposition of more severely capping farm payments. The reasons remain a mystery to me except among those who might be directly impacted or are close.
And I guess the mid-sized farm is fairly endangered now as it skews to either part timers with off farm employment or competitively scaled.
But anyway, I've always regarded the family sized farms as the greatest untapped economic asset that rural communities have. The people are generally competent, many are entrepreneurial in nature and have assets that permit access to capital for business formation.
So I'd like to see a chunk of the commodity business type income directed there rather than continue to undercut the economic base that they can use to launch other ventures, be they non-traditional agriculture or non-ag. Some of those would become significant employers.
I think that's a more realistic approach to rural development than to think that outsiders are going to come in and plunk down a lot of good paying jobs.
There are a lot of great stories about things that farmers came up with.
