Silvan wrote:

Duane Bozarth wrote:

applications, etc. to determine most cost-effective practices...'tis
absolutely a complete revolution to the 60 year old who spent 30 years
as an engineer and came back to the farm after Dad died...

That's why 90% of farms are owned by Conglom-Ag isn't it?

Actually, that's not true at all...in actuality, other than the
corporate hog and chicken producers, most are still family-owned
businesses...of course, they have gotten larger...

... Seems to me
Farmer Brown can't afford all that big John Deere iron I see running out in
farm country. That stuff must be *expensive*. They want $1,200 for a li'l
ol' lawn mower.

True...it takes more than 40A and a mule these days, particularly in
commodity crops...

However, it's like any other industry in some ways...the higher
productivity of the larger equipment and improved agronomics is the
key. Recall I mentioned in '63 I planted four rows at 3-1/2 mph. Now
it's 16 at about 7-1/4 mph. That's a diferrence of roughly a factor of
eight. That crop in '63 might have yielded 60 bu/acre (milo, dry land
(non-irrigated)). Today, assuming similar growing conditions, I'd
expect near 80 to as much as 100. However, the recent spike in fuel
costs is definitely a hit--I'm studying carefully what to do for next
spring. Winter wheat, of course, is already in and up (and looking
good, here, too!)