Do you know where your food comes from? Farming feeds everyone, but while some people may believe that large, enterprise-grade industrial farms produce the bulk of the world’s nourishment, the reality is that a significant portion of the global food supply comes from family farmers. These farmers tend to self-manage and internally handle most of their operational needs. Tanner Winterhof, an Iowa-based expert in farming who boasts over two decades of business, financial services, and agricultural expertise, says the pressure on these smaller farmers will only continue to grow in the near future.
“Over the next decade, you’re going to see larger farms get larger just for the pure business sense,” says Winterhof. “Margins are getting tighter. There’s going to be a division of types of farms because you’re going to have large-scale, business-run farms that are going to work on thinner margins. And then you’ll see more smaller farms start up that are selling direct to consumer beef.”
“The small farms will still pop up, but they’re going to be trying to do more value add, high-value type products. So, no longer will you have the middle range. You’re going to see that get wider. And with that, technology is going to adapt.”