[m_coder]

I believe you are on target. Small plots of land are on average far more productive per acre than large mono cropping plantations.

"Dacha gardening accounts for about 3% of the arable land used in agriculture, but grows an astounding 50% by value of the food eaten by Russians." (from https://smallfarmersjournal.com/russian-dacha-gardens)

[pas]

> Small plots of land are on average far more productive per acre than large mono cropping plantations.

the bottleneck is not exactly land, but cost, manpower, etc. that's why industrial farming dominates the food and feedstock sectors.

[m_coder]

You are right on target however I am not seeing people here understanding that the tight spot is not land but manpower.

It seems to me that people think that if the first farm is more efficient in converting labor, dollars and cheap fuel into food than the second farm, then the first is the most efficient farm across all categories including land use. When one of the pieces changes (for instance fuel costs) then the formula needs to be revisited.

Realizing that personal, scientific and careful management of land yields more food per acre without agri chemical products is an important first step to thinking about the picture even if the low cost of fuel is a current reality.

[bluGill]

that isn't a fair comparison though. Small farms grow high value crops that need a lot of labor, large farms that grow the same crops are even more productive (not by much though), except that there isn't enough demand to support a large farm growing those crops. There is a large demand for corn, so a lot of large farms grow it.