DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:
....
your hypothetical farmer living in his hypothetical 1800 s.f. probably
tills, chemically treats, and otherwise manipulates better than 2000
acres of cropland (and in some parts of the country, many thousands
more), or oversees the production and feeding of thousands of head of
cattle/hogs/chickens--a scale of activity far beyond what is
traditionally thought of as "rural". ...

In most of that tilled acreage, the only real difference is that the
same acreage is now farmed by fewer individuals, not that the acreage
itself wasn't farmed. Tillage practices such as low- and no-till are
indeed much more prevalent and disturb the soil far less than
conventional tillage of even 20 years ago. In that sense it is, indeed,
more "rural" than before. W/ the advent of fairly sizable acreages
devoted to the Conservation Reserve, quite significant areas are, in
fact, now back into near pre-farming condition and forbs and other
native species are returning. There are, of course, exotics in both
flora and fauna that are unavoidable given imports over the years...