Book Review: Technology and chaotic government programs doom family farms in 'Land Rich Cash Poor'

Weather, insects, diseases and advancing technology always have made farming tough; author and fourth-generation farmer Brian Reisinger explains with insider authority the economic forces that have forced so many family farmers out in “Land Rich Cash Poor.” However, as Associated Press reviewer Jeff Rowe writes, what emerges understated in this book is that among farmers’ biggest challenges in the last century have been inconsistent government programs that often made farmers’ problems worse. Americans generally are blissfully unaware of how difficult farming can be nor are we aware of how the demise of family farms has contributed to the rural-urban political divide. Reisinger offers some insight.