AHC/WI: Landowning still a major source of wealth

Is there some sort of cash crop that could be grown when food production becomes unprofitable? That might not save the landed gentry everywhere, but it could keep them going in a few countries at least.
 
On paper, maybe, but in practice I'm sceptical, since this theoretical wealth doesn't actually bring in any revenue or help with living expenses. (Hence why homeowners still have to go out and work for a living, instead of supporting themselves on the value of their houses.)

The biggest reason we dont have land = income, is because we grow grass lawns. Even a 1\4 acre lot if managed properly, you can grow enough food for at least 10 families.
Eric Toensmeier, this man has done it, and more. With less of a Industry Farm mindset to food production, and a more Permaculture Farm approach, farming can get easier.

Toby Hemenway, is an orchard genius and inspired me to move to the hobby orchard I am working on now. Gaia's Garden, is a must have in your library if you want to start to make your land productive.

Grow less grass, and more food, land will equal income.
 
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PhilippeO

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The biggest reason we dont have land = income, is because we grow grass lawns. Even a 1\4 acre lot if managed properly, you can grow enough food for at least 10 families.....
Grow less grass, and more food, land will equal income.

Since farmer with thousands of acres frequently gone bankrupt, this certainly false.

food <not equal> income; even if your lawn produce food, can you make enough money from it ???

beside, landowner should have enough income from Rent by farmer, not working as farmer himself.
 
This is pretty clearly a challenge that is incompatible with an industrialized society. So, no industrialization is your starting point.
 
1. Since farmer with thousands of acres frequently gone bankrupt, this certainly false.

2.food <not equal> income; even if your lawn produce food, can you make enough money from it ???

3.beside, landowner should have enough income from Rent by farmer, not working as farmer himself.

1. These are using input industrial farming techniques. Where one has to bring in fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. Near on mono crop, which makes the crops susceptible to blight/infestation. All while managing their water usage like they are completely detached from the water table. I threw some links into my edit to flesh out the differences.

2. Creating a CSA, community supported agriculture, where local growers sell their crops in shares. Yes you can make money, and I have, tending a small garden in the city with raised beds. I have been in my new spot just on a year and expect to be building beds this year, so I can make more.

3. Farming should be a self sustaining and profitable endeavor. So land should equal income when it is managed Properly, so it can produce a product.
 
This is pretty clearly a challenge that is incompatible with an industrialized society. So, no industrialization is your starting point.

What are we counting as "industrialised" here? In Britain, the landed gentry kept much of its power until the 1880s, and lost it due to cheap food imports causing an agricultural depression, rather than industrialists making huge fortunes. I think Britain in the 1870s would count as an industrialised society by most reasonable definitions of the term.
 
What are we counting as "industrialised" here? In Britain, the landed gentry kept much of its power until the 1880s, and lost it due to cheap food imports causing an agricultural depression, rather than industrialists making huge fortunes. I think Britain in the 1870s would count as an industrialised society by most reasonable definitions of the term.

There is a difference between political power and wealth. How much of the national GDP was due to the output of the land? How much of the wealth of the landed gentry was?
 
The biggest reason we dont have land = income, is because we grow grass lawns. Even a 1\4 acre lot if managed properly, you can grow enough food for at least 10 families.
Eric Toensmeier, this man has done it, and more. With less of a Industry Farm mindset to food production, and a more Permaculture Farm approach, farming can get easier.

Toby Hemenway, is an orchard genius and inspired me to move to the hobby orchard I am working on now. Gaia's Garden, is a must have in your library if you want to start to make your land productive.

Grow less grass, and more food, land will equal income.

No, because more food grown by more people equals a decrease in the demand for and increase in the supply of food on the open market, causing the yeild-per-acre (in monetary terms) to go down. If those ten families grew their own food by replacing their grass lawns why spend money buying it from you?

Demand for food isent boundless, so growing more on every inch of land we could would just flood the market. That's why we had farmers literally burning grain and slaughtering hogs en-mass at the start of the great depression here in the US despite going bankrupt.
 
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There is a difference between political power and wealth. How much of the national GDP was due to the output of the land? How much of the wealth of the landed gentry was?

If the landed gentry didn't get their wealth from farming, we wouldn't expect an agricultural depression to have much effect on their position, surely?
 
No, because more food grown by more people equals a decrease in the demand for and increase in the supply of food on the open market, causing the yeild-per-acre (in monetary terms) to go down. If those ten families grew their own food by replacing their grass lawns why spend money buying it from you?

Demand for food isent boundless, so growing more on every inch of land we could would just flood the market. That's why we had farmers literally burning grain and slaughtering hogs en-mass at the start of the great depression here in the US despite going bankrupt.

Farmers were going bankrupt before the depression due to high mortgages, and deep debt. Debt brought on by the market falling out after The Great War. During the war the price of grain was artificially high due to demand, and drop in European production. After the war production came back and prices going back to what they were before, however during the 20's credit was cheap and farmers kept along on cheap credit. These grain farmers were also guilty of monocropping, where their main crop was grain without much diversity.

Your supposition that these ten families would grow their own is pegged on the idea that they all live in suburbia, and not cities. Yes food prices would go down with the increase in supply, and industry loves cheap materials to produce finished goods.

Moving away from industry farming, and going towards a more diversified food production would create a more stable food market.
 
Then if the criteria is being a major source for some people rather than society, then challenge achieved by plenty of people.

The challenge is for these "some people" to be an important and influential class in society, which they aren't at present but were in the 19th century.
 
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