But he, and multiple thousands like him were told by the agricultural elites (the USDA, ag economists, ag professors, and ag prognosticators) that this country had "to many farmers". So because there were "to many farmers" policies were established and enacted that would eleveate this problem. (To bad that no one has ever decided that there are to many lawyers and politicians and set about to systematically reduce their numbers.)
Butz and his cohorts succeeded in making American agriculture extremely productive (meaning the quantity, not the quality, of agricultural products increased greatly) but that was not the only thing they succeeded at. They also succeeded at encouraging and/or (economically) forcing millions of farmers to leave the farms and land that they loved and that their families had lived and worked on for many generations. They also succeeded at destabilizing rural communities in every corner of this country, but the south and midwest were hit particularly hard. As farmers and their families left the land for the cities and suburbs, the once-thriving, small rural communities began to look like ghost towns. Where there was once 10 farmers and their families each farming 100 acres, now there is one farmer, farming 1000 acres. Where there was once a thriving "general store" that supplied many of the household needs of the rural community now there is a "convenience store" selling the American staples of gas, beer, cigarettes and lottery tickets. And our culture calls that "progress".
If you would like to see a representation of what "agricultural progress" has given us in the last 50 years please click on the youtube link below to see Alan Jacksons tribute to the "Little Man". "Little Man" is henceforth declared to be the official new Lil Bitty Farm Blog theme song. Let me know if you like it.
Leviticus 26: 3-5
"If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering , and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land."
An interesting observation about these verses: A fruitful and abundant harvest of crops is linked not to "agricultural progress or know-how" but to faithfully walking with God in daily obedience to Him and His Word. Ponder that til we meet again.
God Bless the Lil Bitty Man,
Todd
P.S. Thanks again to my wonderful daughter-in-law, Tara, for helping me get this first new post up using the new computer. You're a gem !!