Dispatches From the Fields: Mowing -- and re-growing -- the grassroots
Now that farmers have gotten big or gotten out, it's up to alternative farmers
Posted by Ariane Lotti

Since the early 1970s, if not before, U.S. farm policy has hinged on the mantra, "get big or get out."

Larry Bee got big. He currently farms 5,000 acres in North Central Iowa and produces over 600,000 bushels of corn and about 90,000 bushels of soybeans. To do the work, he owns a fleet on farm machinery big enough to make any gear nerd swoon -- three 64-foot cultivators, a 90-foot sprayer (with a 1,600 gallon tank), a couple of 12-row combines, and at least one of those tractors with four rear tires. And three semis to haul just-under-1,000-bushel loads of corn to the ethanol plant when the price is right.

To be successful at the "get big" strategy, the secret is to keep getting bigger, which inevitably means buying up more acres, buying bigger farm machinery every year or two, and upgrading farm implements, equipment, and inputs. This year, Larry built a new addition to his grain elevator complex 200 feet from his house -- a 200,000-bushel grain bin. If that means nothing to you, just know that that is a big bin -- most of the grain bins at the town grain elevators around these parts have a 90,000-bushel capacity. He and his wife are looking forward to this year's Farm Progress Show, where they will see the latest in farm machinery toys and gadgets in action.

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