The last days of a 350-year-old family farm
It’s important to remember that this was a specific policy decision. Earl Butz[1] famously said to our farmers “Get big or get out”.<p>I don’t have the background or inclination to prove it but my conviction is the death of the  small town, and the ancillary costs like the meth and opioid  epidemics can be traced directly to the “fence row to fence row” approach he pushed forward and still exists today.<p>[later] thanks nickt for pointing out I left off the footnote <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Earl_Butz" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Earl_Butz</a>