Yes, it has changed ... . This was an interesting article. Thank you for posting it.
Excerpt:
“Farmers and flood water. It’s becoming clear that there is something to it. Farmers of old would call this a greed problem and would have belittled those practicing this kind of “farming”. They took pride in their crops, their ground and how they took care of the land. Now, its rip it up, tile it, and get whatever you can from the land. Spray it, over work it, just give me the money. “
It’s a toss up between greed and ignornace as the root problem.
I think it depends how you define “farmer”.
My observation is that there is a degree of correlation (although not absolute) between the size of the operation and the attachment to the land.
Many farms are unfortunately subsidy-driven and the crops/land are essentially a byproduct.
However, there are still many traditional farmers out there who are still caretakers and stewards of the land. Sadly, they’re generally just getting by during the good years and once wiped out by natural or man-made disasters, they seldom recover.
Just MHO based on my (admittedly limited) observation.
Personally, I think it takes balls of granite to be a farmer in this day and age.
IMHO, most small farmers I nkow are very environmentally aware. And it’s not because we’re GREENIES or anything. It’s because we know where our food comes from and how much d@mn work it is to produce!
I cannot WAIT until I’m back on my little farm full time. Every square INCH of it is going to be in ‘production’ of some sort; veggies, herbs, flowers, fruit, animals, etc.
I am LIVING for that day! :)