Modern farming is very sophisticated because it has to be. Consider agricultural markets. By and large they are 'commodity' markets. What does that mean?
In this case, there are so many individual producers of corn, for example, that no one farmer or group of farmers can move the market by entering or exiting. In the parlance of Economists, they are market 'takers,' not makers.
Mornings start early. The light comes on in the kitchen at 4:00 AM. Coffee pot is turned on, and the radio...for the morning AG report. Prices in Chicago for various products, for example.
You can find farmers in their combines, harvesting wheat...and checking markets on their laptop.
Farming has become efficient because it's become more complex. If you check with the ag university in Iowa, for example, you'll find they've catalogued soil types across the state...and combined that with mini-climates to predict the perfect crop and type of corn, for example. This location in this county would do best with this hybrid, for example.
Combine that with the ability to sell futures in products, contracts with conglomerates such as Conagra, Simplot, etc, and you've got savvy producers who understand the product chain from one end to the other.
Those who shoot from the hip (as in all industries) don't last for long. Some producers survive because of the government, others in spite of it.
Thank you Gogeo. I have heard all that over the years, but I’ll admit it didn’t all register when I was writing earlier.
The broad concepts did, but it probably doesn’t look like it.
I know our farmers run circles around many of us. It’s a hard life and they make the most of it. I haven’t meant to label any of them as less than smart or capable. Some of the best observations made are made by farmers, on a variety of topics.
I appreciate your additional comments. Good food for thought.
Take care.