Small farmers need to take advantage of their flexibility to respond to such trends. As small-scale farmers find these products, they will be able to earn a better return on their investments. Indeed, specialty markets are a farming success story, slowing the decline of small farms, and even encouraging some to take up tilling the soil. Better access to credit. If small farms are to be flexible, they need money for start-up costs of new ventures, commission members say.
Lenders often refuse money to small farmers, they say.
Roger Grimes and his father, Johnny, answer that most small farms still in business are already headed down this path. Johnny's father originally bought 110 acres. Roger now farms about 2,000 acres, some purchased and some rented. Computer spreadsheets are new, too. Roger's wife, Nell, converted her den into an office two years ago and uses a PC to track the farm's expenses and earnings.