Dan, I disagree with some of what you said.  While a lot of the current farmers did scrimp and save and work hard for years, from what I've read and heard, many do it for the love of the land and can't see themselves doing anything else.  Obviously I am a farmer's wife, not the farmer, but I chose this life for the love of my husband, the love of country, animals, and land, and for the quality of life more than anything else. Though I like nice things (who doesn't?), I realize I don't need the fancy salary, the perfectly landscaped yard, the deluxe brick house, the nice clothes, etc. to be happy.  Corporate America offers little else but monetary rewards, at an increasingly physically, emotionally, and spiritually taxing price IF a person can stop long enough to listen closely enough to their soul, mind, and body to realize that things could be different.  Some people want more out of life than what corporate America has to offer.