I hope this is not a repeat of the 1980s.
When marketing companies flood the airwaves of the midwest with ads for the next big tractor or the next big combine. Why plant 10 rows at a time when we can plant 12, 14, 16, 18 rows. Bigger is better. Blah, blah, blah.
Small farmers bought the BS and bought over sized farm equipment that was really overkill for their size of property. The near mortgage sized payments that came with huge and modern overwhelmed many of those small farms who are now out of business.
They were bought up by the big agra companies who merged small farms and put that oversized equipment to good use on land big enough to make it profitable. There are some great tools becoming available, but farmers need to be smart about what is cost effective for their situation.
One technology advancement has hurt the old radio marketing that fed the earlier problems.
Most farmers now listen to commercial free iPods while they spend hours in the fields to avoid the head games of endless marketing pitches on the radio.
