Not enough organic matter to make a big difference quickly. But it does help. My garden has been munched for years with pine straw, manure, and hay. One foot of mulch breaks down to about an inch of good stuff.
Not according to some. Family farms, not corporate, still dominate U.S. ag production, new report says – Twin Cities
Yes, I even had the local tree trimmers dump off loads of wood chips. They are all broken down into dirt now. This year it is just spoiled hay for mulch so far. I used to take my pickup and cover the whole area with a foot of mulch before planting. I put down a layer of horse manure in rows once a foot deep. Then planted GM sweet corn. I planted a half pound of seed and got a very good harvest. I am so into soil management I once read a book on dirt.
I was born and raised on a farm. My dad had around 120 acre family farm back in the 1950's and we made a pretty good living. The problem is the family farm is basically dead and gone, replaced buy corporate farmers with thousands of acres. 43% of the American population lived on farms back in 1950, today that percentage is less than 2%. How many people these corporate farmers employ, I don't know. But with computer driven, air conditioned planters and harvesters,20 row, 40 row, instead of our single row, probably not that many. The thing is, you don't have to worry about the number of farms or the people living on them. That has become irrelevant. Like so many other businesses, farming is a corporate operation, it's not a family business anymore.
Supply and demand explains 95% of why farmland is expensive. Undeveloped arable land requires a long-term investment most people are not prepared to make. Farming requires the proper soil, the proper climate, irrigation water, and a profitable marketplace to sell products...and it must be affordable to anyone wishing to become farmers. This is an all-or-nothing process! First off, how many average Americans can even afford to buy a home? 65% of Americans own homes...35% are unlikely to own homes. We can guess the 35% can't buy a farm. We can also guess that many of the 65% can't buy a farm. The few people left who can afford to buy a farm must also find one with the proper soil, the proper climate, irrigation water, and a consistent marketplace...good luck!!
In my area land is $200K per acre and more. Prices vary across the nation. Yes, I agree someone can buy some land and grow something. But is this going to be a career move? Will this allow for a family, and healthcare, and education, and travel, and retirement, etc.?
At $200K per acre for agricultural land, you would have to grow some real primo, top shelf weed to justify the purchase.
The supply of land IS NOT fixed?? Someone getting $50/hour to shovel **** is still shoveling ****...and it's only a matter of time before the $50/hour has no meaning. Wages are not a long-term motivator...
My guess is they are making their money on the wine, and tourists, and tourists who like wine, not the grapes.
In most places you need farm equipment, outbuildings and such. It is very expensive. I got my little hobby farm. It doesn't make much money but it is enjoyable.
Lol... the young farmers grow weed now. They'll switch back to food once food becomes more profitable than weed. Which will either require a substantial reduction in the supply of food or a substantial increase in the supply of weed...
Hustle is muscle these days. Anything that keeps the land from being carved up into pieces of an acre tracts is fine with me. I don't see much of a difference between a vineyard selling house wine and an Indiana farmer having a corn maze or an organic farmer running a CSA.
I want to people think of land as a great treasure and treat it accordingly. At least return the leaves and grass clippings to the land. How many tons of topsoil lost per year should never be considered as a farming strategy. The strategy should consider gain in topsoil per year and increase in friabilty. .... Anyway I am working on this system.
At $200K an acre, I don't think people see that land as not a treasure considering how many ducats they pay for it.
I said it is fixed, because it indisputably is. As that is a fact you cannot dispute (only deny), and it proves your beliefs are false, it is now time for you to dismiss it as "diatribe." That depends on how much you want the $50. A lot of people seem to be motivated to shovel $#!+ long-term for the likes of the Koch brothers.
No, the supply of land is fixed and demand for it is equal to the subsidy to owning it, so as with all other expensive land, the subsidy to owning it explains 100% of why it is expensive. To do what? Nonsense. The majority of the world's farmland is not irrigated. No, people wishing to become farmers only have to be able to afford to pay the owners of the land for permission to use it. Farming can be more or less intensive. Unless it is a condo or a manufactured home on a rented pad. Right. At this point, unless you or someone in your family already own land, you will likely never be able to afford to buy land. Lots of people farm without owning the land. All they have to do is pay a landowner for permission. And the landowner has a simple choice: accept the high bid, or do without the rent income.
Everything must be profitable...many farmers who grow wine grapes do not make wine...they grow and sell grapes...
Yes, farmers either need to invest in equipment/labor, etc. or lease it as required...all an expense. If we're talking about farming careers, it will require more than a hobby farm...even more expensive...
