Selling the Farm

For almost four centuries the Tuttles of Dover New Hampshire have been farming the same plot of land, sometimes eking by, sometimes prosperously, but continuously, and longer than any family in America has operated the same farm. But that epoch appears to be coming to an end as the farm that has been passed from generation to generation since 1632 is up for sale. As someone who grew up splitting time between my Mom's house and my Dad and grandparents' family farm not a mile down the road, these stories always resonate with me. American agriculture is dominated by giant conglomerates that nonetheless like to play up the hayseed angle in order to suckle at the government teat even as their practices make it nearly impossible for the Tuttles, never mind families with lesser pedigrees, to make a go of it.