So, Before The Farmers Get Their Trump Bailout

[Ms. Toad]

61. Yes - quite challenging.

My father couldn't invest much in better methods while he was actively farming (no time/no money). But when he turned the active farming over to our former classmates, he was able to spend his time on projects that would better conserve the land. He was able to section the pasture land so that the cattle could be rotated and fully graze each section - rather than picking and choosing their favorite bits of food. That meant that 3 quarters could recover while one was being grazed. He did one of the (if not the first) prescribed burns in Nebraska to clear the meadow across from our house of invasive species and replant with native plants, and helped experiment with non-toxic means of controlling musk thistles (an invasive species). He's long been involved in social and economic justice issues (including combatting food insecurity).

But you're not going to survive as a family farmer if you're not in it for love - and even then it's tough. His brother and nephew both went bankrupt and lost pieces of the ancestral farm.