Article 5881 of misc.rural:
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From: rijtaylo@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Crafty)
Subject: AgEcon
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References: <CA3tA7.Gnu@sugar.neosoft.com> <1993Jul14.095611.13842@gps.leeds.ac.uk> <CA5sE8.D2G@sugar.NeoSoft.COM>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 01:21:02 GMT
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In article <1993Jul20.164943.25917@sisd.kodak.com> maa@sisd.kodak.com (Mark Armstrong soft) writes:

>A "few square feet" can provide your agricultural needs? What are you going
>to do, plant some corn, put a cow over the corn and raise some chickens on
>top of the cow?

	The guy I presently work for has four (4) acres in crops,
mostly veggies. His only problem is that he cannot keep up with demand.

>What are the cost of starting a farm? I can't imagine any
>farm with enough land to provide a living would cost under
>$100,000. Raising cattle, you need to start up you herds.
>Growing wheat, you are going to need tractors, seeders (??)
>harvesters.

	You don't have to raise cattle or wheat to work a living from
the soil, for one thing. You don't necessarily need 'a herd'; you can
get going with one animal (in combination with other products, of
course) and work up from there. 
The guy who edits _Small Farmers Journal_ in Oregon got his start in
farming when he bought four draft horses and some eqt. for $13,000.
What motivated him to do this? It was cheaper than mechanized eqt. for
the same purpose.
	I have forgotten the man's name, but he writes that one person
with a team o four can work 200 acres. 
	I agree with you that buying into industrial agriculture would
be a royal pain, but why do that when subverting it is so much cheaper
-- 
___________________________________
turn your back on weeds you've hoed, silly sinful sins you've sowed-
add your straw to the camel's load, pray like hell when the world explode...
						--Buffy Ste-Marie


