Farm406

farm406 20 "I'm prey sure my dad had dirt in his blood," Phil jokes as we bounced down the two track along his wheat fields. "e question I've always asked myself: how do you make this size of farm work?" he said. "I keep my costs low and I make it work, but long-term, what does a successful farm here look like when you don't have the resources to get bigger? How do I pass it down to my kid so he can continue farming?" Steinberger continued, "Larry said it best, 'What we need are people who love the land, look at the land and see what is needed to live on the land.' e mid-sized farm, defined by the USDA as a farm that earns between $50,000 - $500,000 in farm sales per year is in decline. Margins on commodity production are small and so the choice that faced mid-sized farmers in the past was either to get big or get out. Agricultural experts call it the hollowing out of the mid-sized farm. e 2017 USDA census confirmed a couple of dominant trends in agriculture. e first trend involves large conventional farms growing bigger and adopting technologies and practices that make them more efficient and require less on-farm labor. e less visible trend is that in order to make it, other operations – usually smaller ones like the Steinberger's – are diversifying into new products and services, such as ecotourism, niche food products, vacation rentals, and hunting and fishing opportunities, in order to offset low commodity prices. The hollowing out of the mid-sized farm Phil and his wife Renee have restored the old barn on the property for vacation and hunting rental. The red barn can sleep up to 12 people and has meeting space in the upstairs. There is also another renovated house on the property that can sleep up to 9 people. They also have RV hook ups. Drew checks his bee hives that he keeps on his family's farm. He sells honey directly to consumers and plans to increase the number of hives in the coming years.

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