So many odd points... "some businesses generate a lot of income throughout the year, farming is capital intensive." Businesses can both generate a lot of income throughout the year and be capital intensive, those two factors are not opposites. Farming is capital intensive, but the doesn't mean that many farms don't make money throughout the year-- if you sell livestock, grow multiple crops, or market at all intelligently, you're not going to be in a position to get all your money at one time of the year. Like many other businesses, farms have cycles, highs and lows, but the days of working all year for one trip to the county fair where you sell all your goods and get one big check to take to the bank are largely gone. Farms need cash flow at all times.
Most business owners work for their living, and I'm not counting farmers in or out of that group. I'm making the point that the idea of being "land rich, cash poor" is often part of a justification to provide public assistance to farmers-- through subsidized crop insurance, subsidy payments, tax breaks, etc. because they are seen as a needy, impoverished group in need of support to protect their family's livelihood. My point is, if you have millions in farmland assets, you shouldn't be qualifying for public assistance. Running a farm business, like running any business, is hard. And free market capitalists everywhere should be advocate to let poorly managed (which a business that can't stay on top of its cash flow could be described as) businesses fend for themselves.
As someone who believes that back-to-the-earthers are largely a huge risk the health of land everywhere, I wish this farmer would "betray her hippie roots" (though truly she's not a farmer, she's a farm owner, there's a difference). She's not been doing anything for decades, she's 30 and a professional yoga teacher running a commune. I totally support her freedom to call herself a conservative, but if she's going to be one, I expect her (and you) to be an honest conservative, and not try to couch her greed in selflessness. To your point, there's nothing wrong with having wealth. So own it and stop pretending that you having it is for the good of everyone else.
