The USDA has reported the loss of farmland in the U.S. for 2024. The numbers line up with a trend that's been going on for years, totaling 150,000 farms lost since 2017.
Alexandra - I wanted to share a resource that may be helpful to your readers who want to find farmland in case you weren't aware. It's from the America Farmland Trust which you've written about: https://farmlandinfo.org/farm-link-finder/. The whole goal is to connect aspiring farmers to farmland :)
Thank you for doing all this research and for letting your voice. I get encouraged every time I read your content. I know you are a busy girl, but you need to make time to start your House of Green podcast. I will definitely be a listener. You are a gift from God.
Aww thank you! I actually had a podcast for a few years and just did not enjoy recording them/posting them sadly. I am a writer at heart! And I also post video. That's about as much as I can handle right now haha
I just began starting my garden plants. The folks stating you can feed a family of 4 on less than an acre are correct. More like a family of 6, especially if you learn food preservation techniques. That can include livestock as well; chickens and rabbits (rabbit is great lean protein and they are easy to raise). 3 ac. and you could raise a cow/steer (want milk with your eggs?) or pigs. The equipment and building investment is not that great.
Just an observation from someone who provided the financing to production agriculture in the corn belt for the past 42 years. This trend is as old as humanity is itself. This is because historically farming was back breaking work that many of our fore fathers rejected because it was hard. Today it’s not necessarily back breaking work but it requires a lot of capital to acquire the assets necessary to be successful and provide for their families. In the end that’s all anyone wants to do. Yes there are fewer and fewer farming operations and yes the government policies designed to help the family farm are actually working against the family farm because every single subsidy is tied to production. IE it’s always tied to a unit of production. Number of bushels or pounds produced. The operations that succeed are all family run operations taking advantage of the laws of the land organizing themselves into corporations or LLC’s. The Bill Gates and the Mormon church make great boggy men to rail against but they are not as impactful as the media wants you to believe. Almost all farm ground is only sold by dead people. IE people settling estates. And almost all of the farm ground is purchased by other farmers. There are exceptions of course but the exceptions are exceptions because it’s not that common.
There is opportunity for people like you who want to make a difference by starting small and providing for your local community a product that they want and are willing to pay for. Social media is going to be the way that you reach out to people to let them know that you are there.
It is hard work. That's why when we exit industrial systems and look further back we see food production as a community enterprise that sustained and ensured community survival.
The current systems of mono cropping, injecting anhydrous and putting deleterious biocides on crops is unsustainable and in conflict with the seeds of life that agriculture presupposes to steward.
Our challenge is walking away from old systems based in domination of nature and realigining to natural systems and processes.
You don't need a 300 hp tractor to feed a thousand families. We need boots on the ground that understand the difference between a right-livelihood and wage slavery.
Be very careful what you wish for. The working end of a hoe is not pleasant for very long. All of those things have allowed 98.5% of this country to do something else vs growing food. There are surely modifications that could be implemented but most of them end up costing more for the end consumer.
And politicritters who only see property tax revenue to sell municipal services to potential voters. As well as local banks selling mortgages to build revenue. All pushing out small farmers.
All of my friends and I are naturally professing in this direction. We are changing the world for the better. And it’s wonderful. But the pains of the arrival and the separation from those hurtful things will cause suffering. But I’ve found, as you know, that with breaking through, we leave hurt and suffering behind. This is magical. And when this place is purged of evil, the most vile innovation of the Christian church, we will be able to use the power of love to heal the world, and all of that healing love light will be what illuminates the new enlightenment in 2027. ✨🐦🔥
@Amy Delcambre, it really is heartbreaking to see. I know that I can’t buy all of it. Because I totally would if I could just to save it and give it back to the people. But I do know that I can help my small town. Currently working on a proposal to build a community garden, that has an orchard patch and fresh veggies. So that people will be able to take what they need. It’s a chance to rebel. And since I’ve always liked being a rebel and going against the grain I mean why not. The least we can do is help our communities and if everyone did the world could change and people could have access to fresh food. Which if you’ve never had fresh veggies or fruit it’s literally a life changer and addicting. Which I think is a good thing to be addicted to. People don’t appreciate farmers I wish more did. My hope and goal is that community can really bring people together and food can help us look past differences and realize that we’re really all alike. 1 acre can feed a lot more people than everyone realizes. You honestly can feed a family of four on less. Backyards can be turned into gardens and I don’t think people realize that, or maybe they do and just don’t care. Eating something you grew gives you new appreciation and the ability to go well if we have a shortage of food my family will be okay because I can feed us. It’s a security blanket, but most don’t realize that. And seeds really aren’t that expensive and you don’t need a ton of money to get started. You can save the seeds of the food you do grow to replant the following year. And most veggie plants come back year after year. It’s really sad but I’m hanging onto hope that maybe just maybe if I talk to enough people about it and teach and encourage them that we can become self reliant instead of more so on big companies that feed us crap.
The loss is also in the self-sufficiency and resilience of communities but monopolies support authoritarian government and control of the supply chain. Local disaster? We depend on neighbors just outside the path of destruction. 3 meat packing giants? Buy a future in half a hog from a local producer or cured ham or home made jams or pickle relish and sauerkraut. Visit the pick your own. I grew up on the feet and tongues the customers did not want. Food waste? It is the easiest thing for nature and man to recycle if it’s not wrapped in plastic in a landfill outgasing methane.
The only thing that will work is forcing the property evaluators to lower property taxes, abolish corporations altogether and transfer those rights back to families, prevent entities from accumulating an unreasonable amount of land, and deport 95% of nonwhites.
I LOVE what you are doing, I love your passion, and all the info you share, and I agree with you so much. I live on about half an acre and I am planning to pack it full this year with produce and flowers and have a little stand right out front. I'm going to pass out flyers to my neighbors once I have some things sprouting and invite them over every Saturday to buy some produce and fresh flowers, maybe even let them pick their own. Not sure yet, going to just see how it evolves, but I want to inspire my neighbors to plant something, anything, to grow of their own... if we all did that wow! I'm with you sister, to take America back to what it's meant to be. I hope your message reaches far and wide!!!
The statistics don't lie. Farms are consolidating and young people aren't becoming farmers, driving the average age of farmers up. I live here in the heart of the corn belt where I farm specialty crops and my observations and conclusions are slightly different to yours. For example, "farms...are...managed by a couple, usually in their 70s, barely able to stand upright from the decades of labor they put into their operations." That's sometimes true, but it's also true that people from many walks of life are no longer able to stand upright in their 70s. One key skill on many of the farms you describe for people of that generation: diesel mechanics. Go down to your local garage and ask when mechanics retire and what ailments they have. And some office workers are also barely able to stand upright by their 70s from diseases of inactivity. Another example, "it was beaten into our heads that farming...will break your body into two pieces, making it a miserable experience." Having spent time working at an organic CSA farm, THAT could break your body. It can be a very tough, labor-filled existence for very little compensation. The reason most children of farmers don't want to become farmers is rural isolation, lack of autonomy and ongoing capital costs. Around here, farmers are in hock to the equipment and chemical companies, growing industrial crops (ethanol and animal feed), and subject to commodity price fluctuations. Living in a suburb working in IT looks like a much nicer life. The fantasy of farmers engaged in diversified food production hasn't been a thing for generations in most rural areas. Finally, "based on the fact that farm sizes are increasing in acreage, that tells me that the massive conglomerate corporate agricultural empires are absorbing these small-to-medium sized farms to crush out their future competition." Maybe that happens somewhere, but it's not what I see. Mostly it's medium sized farms run by local farmers buying out smaller farms when farmers want to retire. Sure, they want bigger scale to manage the brutal facts of commodity farming. But there are usually no massive conglomerate empires in sight, unless you count the usual suspects: John Deere, Bayer, Cargill, ADM, etc. Nowadays, successful farmers (with a medium sized operation farming, say, 3,000 to 8,000 acres) are middle or upper managers or small business people in a large and complex industry. They're not different from many doctors, lawyers and corporate managers. And how many of their children want to follow them?
Alexandra - I wanted to share a resource that may be helpful to your readers who want to find farmland in case you weren't aware. It's from the America Farmland Trust which you've written about: https://farmlandinfo.org/farm-link-finder/. The whole goal is to connect aspiring farmers to farmland :)
This is so right on.
Have you all heard about the School of Traditional Skills?
Thank you for doing all this research and for letting your voice. I get encouraged every time I read your content. I know you are a busy girl, but you need to make time to start your House of Green podcast. I will definitely be a listener. You are a gift from God.
Aww thank you! I actually had a podcast for a few years and just did not enjoy recording them/posting them sadly. I am a writer at heart! And I also post video. That's about as much as I can handle right now haha
I just began starting my garden plants. The folks stating you can feed a family of 4 on less than an acre are correct. More like a family of 6, especially if you learn food preservation techniques. That can include livestock as well; chickens and rabbits (rabbit is great lean protein and they are easy to raise). 3 ac. and you could raise a cow/steer (want milk with your eggs?) or pigs. The equipment and building investment is not that great.
Just an observation from someone who provided the financing to production agriculture in the corn belt for the past 42 years. This trend is as old as humanity is itself. This is because historically farming was back breaking work that many of our fore fathers rejected because it was hard. Today it’s not necessarily back breaking work but it requires a lot of capital to acquire the assets necessary to be successful and provide for their families. In the end that’s all anyone wants to do. Yes there are fewer and fewer farming operations and yes the government policies designed to help the family farm are actually working against the family farm because every single subsidy is tied to production. IE it’s always tied to a unit of production. Number of bushels or pounds produced. The operations that succeed are all family run operations taking advantage of the laws of the land organizing themselves into corporations or LLC’s. The Bill Gates and the Mormon church make great boggy men to rail against but they are not as impactful as the media wants you to believe. Almost all farm ground is only sold by dead people. IE people settling estates. And almost all of the farm ground is purchased by other farmers. There are exceptions of course but the exceptions are exceptions because it’s not that common.
There is opportunity for people like you who want to make a difference by starting small and providing for your local community a product that they want and are willing to pay for. Social media is going to be the way that you reach out to people to let them know that you are there.
It is hard work. That's why when we exit industrial systems and look further back we see food production as a community enterprise that sustained and ensured community survival.
The current systems of mono cropping, injecting anhydrous and putting deleterious biocides on crops is unsustainable and in conflict with the seeds of life that agriculture presupposes to steward.
Our challenge is walking away from old systems based in domination of nature and realigining to natural systems and processes.
You don't need a 300 hp tractor to feed a thousand families. We need boots on the ground that understand the difference between a right-livelihood and wage slavery.
Be very careful what you wish for. The working end of a hoe is not pleasant for very long. All of those things have allowed 98.5% of this country to do something else vs growing food. There are surely modifications that could be implemented but most of them end up costing more for the end consumer.
Have you spent a lot of time in agriculture?
Look up Murdoch, Gates and Bezos for farmland consolidation it’s about investing for them. Land is a hard asset
And politicritters who only see property tax revenue to sell municipal services to potential voters. As well as local banks selling mortgages to build revenue. All pushing out small farmers.
Who can/could/will contribute to food security.
All of my friends and I are naturally professing in this direction. We are changing the world for the better. And it’s wonderful. But the pains of the arrival and the separation from those hurtful things will cause suffering. But I’ve found, as you know, that with breaking through, we leave hurt and suffering behind. This is magical. And when this place is purged of evil, the most vile innovation of the Christian church, we will be able to use the power of love to heal the world, and all of that healing love light will be what illuminates the new enlightenment in 2027. ✨🐦🔥
And we grow meat artificially… insanity!!
@Lundy Glover 💔
@Amy Delcambre, it really is heartbreaking to see. I know that I can’t buy all of it. Because I totally would if I could just to save it and give it back to the people. But I do know that I can help my small town. Currently working on a proposal to build a community garden, that has an orchard patch and fresh veggies. So that people will be able to take what they need. It’s a chance to rebel. And since I’ve always liked being a rebel and going against the grain I mean why not. The least we can do is help our communities and if everyone did the world could change and people could have access to fresh food. Which if you’ve never had fresh veggies or fruit it’s literally a life changer and addicting. Which I think is a good thing to be addicted to. People don’t appreciate farmers I wish more did. My hope and goal is that community can really bring people together and food can help us look past differences and realize that we’re really all alike. 1 acre can feed a lot more people than everyone realizes. You honestly can feed a family of four on less. Backyards can be turned into gardens and I don’t think people realize that, or maybe they do and just don’t care. Eating something you grew gives you new appreciation and the ability to go well if we have a shortage of food my family will be okay because I can feed us. It’s a security blanket, but most don’t realize that. And seeds really aren’t that expensive and you don’t need a ton of money to get started. You can save the seeds of the food you do grow to replant the following year. And most veggie plants come back year after year. It’s really sad but I’m hanging onto hope that maybe just maybe if I talk to enough people about it and teach and encourage them that we can become self reliant instead of more so on big companies that feed us crap.
The loss is also in the self-sufficiency and resilience of communities but monopolies support authoritarian government and control of the supply chain. Local disaster? We depend on neighbors just outside the path of destruction. 3 meat packing giants? Buy a future in half a hog from a local producer or cured ham or home made jams or pickle relish and sauerkraut. Visit the pick your own. I grew up on the feet and tongues the customers did not want. Food waste? It is the easiest thing for nature and man to recycle if it’s not wrapped in plastic in a landfill outgasing methane.
Great post. Very informative
The only thing that will work is forcing the property evaluators to lower property taxes, abolish corporations altogether and transfer those rights back to families, prevent entities from accumulating an unreasonable amount of land, and deport 95% of nonwhites.
I LOVE what you are doing, I love your passion, and all the info you share, and I agree with you so much. I live on about half an acre and I am planning to pack it full this year with produce and flowers and have a little stand right out front. I'm going to pass out flyers to my neighbors once I have some things sprouting and invite them over every Saturday to buy some produce and fresh flowers, maybe even let them pick their own. Not sure yet, going to just see how it evolves, but I want to inspire my neighbors to plant something, anything, to grow of their own... if we all did that wow! I'm with you sister, to take America back to what it's meant to be. I hope your message reaches far and wide!!!
The statistics don't lie. Farms are consolidating and young people aren't becoming farmers, driving the average age of farmers up. I live here in the heart of the corn belt where I farm specialty crops and my observations and conclusions are slightly different to yours. For example, "farms...are...managed by a couple, usually in their 70s, barely able to stand upright from the decades of labor they put into their operations." That's sometimes true, but it's also true that people from many walks of life are no longer able to stand upright in their 70s. One key skill on many of the farms you describe for people of that generation: diesel mechanics. Go down to your local garage and ask when mechanics retire and what ailments they have. And some office workers are also barely able to stand upright by their 70s from diseases of inactivity. Another example, "it was beaten into our heads that farming...will break your body into two pieces, making it a miserable experience." Having spent time working at an organic CSA farm, THAT could break your body. It can be a very tough, labor-filled existence for very little compensation. The reason most children of farmers don't want to become farmers is rural isolation, lack of autonomy and ongoing capital costs. Around here, farmers are in hock to the equipment and chemical companies, growing industrial crops (ethanol and animal feed), and subject to commodity price fluctuations. Living in a suburb working in IT looks like a much nicer life. The fantasy of farmers engaged in diversified food production hasn't been a thing for generations in most rural areas. Finally, "based on the fact that farm sizes are increasing in acreage, that tells me that the massive conglomerate corporate agricultural empires are absorbing these small-to-medium sized farms to crush out their future competition." Maybe that happens somewhere, but it's not what I see. Mostly it's medium sized farms run by local farmers buying out smaller farms when farmers want to retire. Sure, they want bigger scale to manage the brutal facts of commodity farming. But there are usually no massive conglomerate empires in sight, unless you count the usual suspects: John Deere, Bayer, Cargill, ADM, etc. Nowadays, successful farmers (with a medium sized operation farming, say, 3,000 to 8,000 acres) are middle or upper managers or small business people in a large and complex industry. They're not different from many doctors, lawyers and corporate managers. And how many of their children want to follow them?
That is scary.
Perhaps RFK Jr would be a person to get with about this issue.