It's no longer front page news, but it never really ended. Foreclosures continue to push farmers off their land, and state hotlines are busier than ever. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge , the plight of America's small farms, and why getting rid of the rural economy might just save them. The American farm crisis was big news in the '80s, as farms went under, stores closed, and families lost their way of life. But don't think that just because the stories have stopped the crisis is over.
Economists say things are as bad as ever for the small farmer.
Joel Dyer , editor of the Boulder Weekly, tells Steve Paulson that the farm crisis can be traced back to the economics of the 1970s, as money lenders encouraged farmers to take on debt. When land values suffered in the 1980s, he says, the farmers suffered too. Abandoning a farm isn't just leaving a place, it's leaving a way of life and generations of memories. The Chronicle of a Family. He tells Jim Fleming that after four generations the family is still on the farm, but its future is uncertain.