This is a very good article by Charles Walters about the state of the American farmer. Basically, he lays out how the big players are steam rolling the family farmer. No surprise to all here, but is is a good read written in 1998.

Charles Walters is, in my opinion, a rare bread, a REAL economist.

http://www.normeconomics.org/hole-in-one....

Grew up on a farm that the family now rents. Continue to work with farmers after 27 years.

As Gen has been preaching in general, farmers will soon become the victims of margin compression. They are now selling the remnants of their 2010 production at historic prices which was produced with inputs priced late 2009. Input costs are now skyrocketing (fuel, fertilizer, seed, and especially...land costs/rent).

It has been my observation of late that neighbors sell out more farmers than bankers due to bidding up cash rent and land values.

While the average farm is increasing in size, logisitics and WEATHER still limit the number of acres one can cover profitably. Infrastructure stresses are showing up. You just can't get much bigger, heavier equipment up and down the road. This is detrimental to large farmers who need to go further to add land. We've got some medium sized farmers who'll drag and haul equipment 20+ miles to farm more land. Big farmers will travel 100+ miles.

It is still just as common for a really big farmer (in my area) to go*****-up just as the small operators.