Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: STOP SCRAPERS
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Posted by Jim on May 18, 1998 at 16:19:32:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: STOP SCRAPERS posted by listen up joe on May 18, 1998 at 15:46:02:
Heck. I think we are all a bit hypocritical. Afterall, we are arguing this topic over the WEB. If we are truly purists, we'd meet in town or use the snail mail. But beyond keeping up with the "industry," it is the fickleness of the consumer that drives the issue in large part. Old Farmer has to go to larger tractors to stay competitive, but is he making a better profit than he did when he had his small tractor, or is he making a greater profit than his father before him with a team of horses? Likely not. And at what expense is the farmer competing? Are the larger tractors, the larger fields, and the fewer competitors to blame as well? I mean, isn't it simple supply and demand. If one man can produce more than ten men, why do you need the ten men, and doesn't the increased supply mean lower prices? In effect, rather than banding together, did many farmers advance technologically by purchasing new, faster, larger tractors to the detriment of others? (I don't mean to insult anyone. I merely raise it for consideration). Do the larger fields mean more erosion, fewer protected areas, and a loss of the very soil, the fertile soil that makes production possible? Can we go on just getting bigger and bigger? Where does it end? 30 ft. discs? 40 ft. discs? IS there a limit? Remember; everytime there is an advancement in technology, there is a decline of the number of people employed in the area of the advancement. And this is saying nothing about the soil upon which these products are grwon. Organic matter leaves these fields every year for the city from which it never returns. We keep on as though the soil were expendable. Well, if we don't watch it, we might run out. And how few farmers can we get by with? You think the world gets weird over oil, just wait and see how weird they get over food. How different is recycling/scrapping versus burying your dead mule? Your draft horse dies, and he becomes fertilizer, he becomes part of the life cycle (we all do). Your tractor dies, and it becomes your next truck or tractor after being scrapped. I agree, I hate to see them go, but I don't think sitting in the tree line rotting is not the answer. And I do not think the new products are as well constructed as the old, nor are they meant to last as long as the old. I'm not sure what the answer is, but we better start thinking about one.
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