But now we are supposed to believe something magically changed?”
Actually several things did change. The population increased as have the markets. When my generation was growing up we didn’t have yogurt, particularly 500 flavors of it. Farmers also had large families. TV, advertising and the internet were introduced. Would appear that no one gave much thought to the issue of what it would take to meet the demands for new products.
A solution would be to ship people from large cities that currently receive unemployment off to areas that need employees. Lots of young bucks that could fill these jobs. Either work for a living or starve!
SUburban and rural markets have plenty of young people interested in farming. Farmers simply need to 1) pay better, 2) make the jobs a little more employee friendly, and 3) learn how to do effective employment outreach.
The trouble comes when so many farmers are able to get away with it that other farmers can’t compete without doing the same. Crack down on illegals and their employers wherever they are!