ZambiaRoots on Nostr: Thanks for posting this. You've inspired me to re-read this The Unsettling. This ...

Thanks for posting this. You've inspired me to re-read this The Unsettling. This topic of farm size is one of great interest to me, and one on which I ultimately lack a satisfactory answer for myself. I have worked with many sizes of farm from market gardens to large corporate crop farms. At every scale I have seen creation mistreated and well loved. In principle I am pro-technology and anti government intervention.

It seems obvious to me that we need to cut the government and subsidies out of the agriculture system. In a previous life as an agronomist I observed a number of innovative practices that where effectively blocked because of crop insurance issues. This is just one of many ways in which gov intervention most likely harms more than it helps.

However, I find technology to be a much more difficult discussion. Synthetic fertilizers, dwarf/disease resistant crops, and tractors seem to push inexorably toward larger farms and less 'human eyes per acre'. It seems like this will happen even under free markets. While I love the idea of small farms I recognize some of the practicality of farming at a large scale, and I struggle with how to reconcile the two.

Thanks for posting about something other than BTC, nostr, or Trump.