1.3

REDISCOVERING FARMER VALUES

In the midst of the banking crisis, my mother–in–law passed away. She had spent most of her 85 years working with her husband on their family farm. Starting with a single, leased tractor and a rented parcel of land, the pair ultimately grew their ranch into a 1,000–acre spread of debt–free farmland in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley. How did they accomplish this feat? By working 14–hour days, six days out of seven. By taking few vacations and forgoing most luxuries. By building up cash reserves in good years so they could survive bad ones. By diversifying their crops to reduce their exposure to fluctuating prices. And by paying themselves modestly while investing everything they could in land and equipment.