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stevenk 's review for:
Using a year in the life of the farming operation of Rick Hammond and his family (the year Rick considers passing down the farm to the next generation) this book provided a look at the history of farming in America and the current state of the family farming business. The book did a good job of showing the enormous amount of things that a farmer deals with, from the land and the weather, to commodity markets, boutique products, government policies, genetic research, international corporate espionage, and the agricultural chemicals used for fertilizer and pesticides. The history of agricultural markets and techniques was the most interesting part, starting with the post Civil War land grants that brought many farmers to Nebraska and moving through the changeover from horses to tractors, the invention of the center pivot, and on to cutting edge genetics this book demonstrates that the business of farming seems to be changing with ever increasing speed. I would rate this book 3.5 stars of Goodreads allowed half stars.