Family Farming in North America

choi

Chrystia Freeland, The Triumph of Family Farm; Farming is in the midst of a startling renaissance—one that holds lessons for America’s economic future. The Atlantic, July/August, 2012.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magaz ... e-family-farm/8998/

Quote:

"My dad farms 3,200 acres of his own, and rents another 2,400—all told, a territory seven times the size of Central Park. Last year, he produced 3,900 tonnes (or metric tons) of wheat, 2,500 tonnes of canola, and 1,400 tonnes of barley. * * * His revenue last year was more than $2 million, and he admits to having made “a good profit,” but won’t reveal more than that. The farm has just three workers, my dad and his two hired men, who farm with him nine months of the year. For the two or three weeks of seeding and harvest, my dad usually hires a few friends to help out, too. My father farms in northern Alberta

"In 2010, of all the farms in the United States with at least $1 million in revenues, 88 percent were family farms, and they accounted for 79 percent of production. Large-scale farmers today are sophisticated businesspeople who use GPS equipment to guide their combines, biotechnology to boost their yields, and futures contracts to hedge their risk. They are also pretty rich. * * * 'US net farming incomes rose more than 20 percent in each of those years. Farmers are flush with cash,'" said government analyst Jason Henderson.

"one source of rural prosperity is the adoption of radical new technologies—and a consequent surge in productivity. Henderson situates the change over the long sweep of history: 'Prior to World War II, it took 100 hours of labor to produce 100 bushels of corn. Today, it takes less than two hours.' According to Erik O’Donoghue and Robert Hoppe, two economists at the Department of Agriculture, in 2009 US farm output was 170 percent above its level in 1948, having grown at a rate of 1.63 percent a year. * * * Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, told me that since 1980, agriculture has been 'the second-most-productive aspect of our economy'

Note: For pivot irrigation system, see
Pivot Irrigation System for Farming Simulator 2011. YouTube.com, published on Mar 24, 2012 by horacionobrega.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkOzM6NFBoA