Apples

Farms exist in all sizes: from the micro farms that grow on postage stamp–size plots of land in all environments—urban, suburban, and rural gardens—to the mega farms cultivating thousands of acres. Scale. Earl Butz, Nixon’s Secretary of Agriculture, pushed the “get big or get out” mentality of American agriculture. It is believed (and supported by his legacy domestic agricultural policy) that the larger a farm is, the more efficient it is; the yields from 200 acres of apples are twice that of 100 acres but without a linear uptick in labor or expensive equipment infrastructure.