Look, I'm just a country boy. I grew up on a farm, helped my step-dad anyway I could raising our food to a large degree. Cows, sheep, chickens, corn, beans of all kinds, potatoes... But in the end, if your livlihood depends on a business of "a family farm", then you are missing the boat. The change in times makes it tough to see a small farm owner competing. The same reason you don't build a "family grocery" right next to the Wal-Mart Supercenter is the same reason family farms are tanking. Overhead is to high and production is too low to compete in the private sector. Farmers are not the first "family business" to struggle trying to compete with a bigger business. Have a farm, feed your family from it, but don't look for a gov't handout to keep your business afloat. Like f350 said, if you rely on gov't handouts to stay out of the red, then it's time to look for another business. That's ANY business, not just "family farms".