They think they're in the burger business. What they really are in - is the real estate business. Do you want a tiny cut of the losses on the corn production, or rent on the land on which that corn is produced?
This is why my family owns farmland and sells combines, but doesn't farm. Speaking of combines, that's a lot of why it will be tough to switch, those things aren't cheap and the farmers don't want to value them down to zero by planting organic tomatoes instead.
The farmers that own their own land or a bulk of it are doing fine. Tough to make anything on rented ground in this market, and there will ALWAYS be someone willing to farm it for break even or worse.
I’m not talking about switching from a row crop to tomatoes, the tomato market demand is being met. We need different crops and new markets that don’t require wholesale shifts in equipment. Chickpeas, for example, are harvested with the same equipment most midwestern farmers already have.
I think any major shift in farming practices either is going to have to come from market creation. Alum seems to think farmers should just start growing new stuff but that’s not going to happen without an established market. I think more can be done industry wide to develop food products that create the demand needed to drive more diversification in cropping.
Again, they haven’t had any real incentive to do so. But if high inputs and low prices remain; they may have to.
RecentTRANSFER PORTAL 2026 by Reacher
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