Farms were always handed down to families, today’s kids are attracted to city life 24/7 due to the media. They don’t want to work on a farm anymore. Add to the fact that the cost of machinery and fertilizer continues to be expensive. If you farm for a living, its like any other business, you have to watch your expenditures and produce enough to pay the help and be able to make a profit. The smaller farms you see along the roads, are probably those that were owned by families who dwindled down to Mom and Pop who were too old to continue. All their kids went off to other areas of the country to seek their fortune. I was exposed to farm families, and I envied their lifestyles, it was a close knit group of families, but I saw how they eventually dissipated. I will always remember getting up early in morning to the fresh air smell of cow poo.
The State Death Taxes have something to do with it too,I am sure.