heck one of the larger farms around me just got sold and they are puting a ethanol plant in its place....the rate things are going around here in less than 10 years there will be NO farms left. it will be all shopping centers selling the same damn stuff and housing developments full of imigrants....there is going to be no history left for my kid. that is why i started taking pictures of old houses , farms , fields , buildings. kinda like a scrape book for my grandkids to look at.......

 

We are having much of the same issues here too. The number of the Big Barns that have been torn down in the last 10 years is almost hard to imagine. That is one reason why I am active with the local historical society here at least helping to preserve some of our past farming and logging heritage here. The prices being paid for Farm Ground is almost unimaginable. It isnt uncommon to hear of ground selling to be farmed for 4,500-7,500 an acre and rent prices at 200 an acre. I am sure there are places that have higher land prices than that, BUT based on production potential, that is HIGH. The thing is the cost to maintain many of the farm buildings is getting almost unaffordable if you arent using them actively. When it costs 10,000 to reroof a barn and its sitting empty,,,,,, seems like a might poor investment over all. I dont like seeing the barns come down but I do understand why. Agriculture is always changing BUT the last 20 years it has changed MORE than at any other point in history. And the American Government is helping to fuel that change too. They do prefer dealing with large farming companies over the small family farms. The larger you are the better break they give you. The environmental policies they enact make it next to impossible for a small farm to be able to comply let alone to even be able to afford the upgrades. And as for housing, well seems like everywhere you turn there is a new development going in and they arent building houses on common sense size lots or houses. They are building $450,000 homes on 3-4 acre HOUSE lots with huge connecting ponds to each of the lots. And once the development is in then they have to annex that land and the adjacent lands in the city and make the farms that are left there to pay city taxes too. I just hope one day before its too late Society wakes up and sees land is more than just a place to build but also our FOOD producing resource. Sorry if I have had some LONG winded replies today, its just some of the topics are ones I have strong opinions on.

 

My neck of the woods is relatively untouched from the strip malls and housing developments. There have been a few new homes spring up along the county road but thats about it. I wouldn't be surprised if it catches up someday but the city has along way to go before it reaches here (if it ever does). Where I grew up is almost the opposite, but it was alot closer to town (3mi. vs. 15mi.).

I think society as a whole has become far to dependent upon luxuries. I mean c'mon, how many fast food joints, general merchandise stores, or gas stations does one town need? None if your a health **** I guess but ya get my drift.