We are setting ourselves up for a rude awakening if we think it cannot happen to us. We still need the family farm because it is the training ground for tomorrow's farmers. Hands-on experience is the ultimate education in any field. We became a major industrial nation because we had a profitable agriculture. Food is the ultimate energy source, and without it the best of technology and know-how will fail.
All new money comes from the soil.
It is the cornerstone of economic prosperity. If we let the family farmer go down the drain, we have undermined the foundation of democracy. We must maintain a food supply that will meet our domestic needs with a reasonable carryover, plus the amount that we can reasonably expect to export. Anything beyond this amount is the true surplus and the cause of our problems. If we expect to operate in a free-trade market, we must develop a method to micromanage the true surplus.