“There are definitely conversations of, ‘Do we just close the farm altogether?’” McLemore said. “Do we cut it back to a smaller size that’s more manageable and sell the tractor, so we don’t have that loan and sell other equipment and pare everything way down? Do I go work for someone else and get a salary or just get an hourly job delivering pizzas? … We talked about all sorts of options.”
The second season of “On the Farm” airs on Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s TV channel July 1 at 9 p.m., July 5 at 7:30 p.m. and July 7 at 4:30 p.m. Each of the four stories will air in full as a single, one-hour episode.
Each film tells the story of an agricultural worker navigating industry and personal challenges. The films also spotlight resources and organizations that can assist producers in crisis and feature specialists from MSU in agricultural economics, family science and clinical psychology. These specialists connect the lived experiences of the farmers to scientific literature on rural and agricultural lifestyles.
The episode on McLemore highlights a disadvantage that small-scale farmers have compared to corporate operations – equal access to technological advances in the industry.
“While technology is great and has allowed us to produce more efficiently, generally corporate farms are able to invest in that equipment and benefit from the gains in technology and gains from the scale of production, producing more at a lower cost,” said Elizabeth Canales, an agricultural economist with the MSU Extension Service. “Small farmers do not benefit from that.”
Other farmers profiled in “On the Farm” include Sunflower County catfish producers Ben and Ed Pentecost, Pike County large animal veterinarian Kim Klunk and Sulligent, Alabama dairy farmer David Gilmer.
Source : msstate.edu