# Rural Population



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Decline over?

Regards, Mike

http://growingtennessee.com/news/2016/05/usda-first-period-of-decline-in-rural-population-may-be-ending-2016-05-02/?utm_source=Growing+Tennessee&utm_campaign=42a5531fb1-growingtennessee-daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d75710df8e-42a5531fb1-296641129


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

I ONLY say this where I live, because it is all I know, but I see population coming and going in 8 year cycles. They tend to move in with some ideas of what life will be like, then once the newness wears off, they are soon gone.

Right now we are in a farm explosion. A environmental college and organic group are both within a few miles of me and bring in young people with dreams of starting small farms, but knowledge, infrastructure, land costs are all competing against them. At the same time the Amish have arrived, our short growing seasons being the last place they wanted to go, but have, and now the farmers markets are saturated, people buy from the Amish instead, and land is getting harder to buy.

After watching them pull up to farmers markets with 40 foot box trucks with 50 pounds of food, cart 30 pounds of it back and baby sit a parking lot all day while selling the same thing as everyone else; you know they just cannot make a go of it. But they are quick to point out all the things I am doing wrong farm wise. There are things I need to change; it is not 1746 any more, but that is how long we have been here too and there is something to be said for longevity.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Every farm economy downturn there are less farmers.There was some that came back to the farm in the 201x's but some of them are throwing in the towel now.Farms just keep getting bigger and bigger with less farmers all the time,it may have just slowed the decline in numbers but it stays headed in that direction.Eq just keeps getting bigger so nothing really stopping it.

Nope the decline is not over.Here.


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