'Shortcuts when they pay'

—Photo by Malene Thyssen

“{Lee Totman} is more than just a good farmer….He doesn’t waste moves. He is always set up for the job he needs to do. He plans only as much as his equipment and help permit. He takes shortcuts where they pay and lavishes attention where that pays better. His manure truck is an old unregistered jalopy; his equipment shed is made of old telephone poles and sheer tin.’’

-- Mark Kramer, in Three Farms (1980). Mr. Totman was a dairy farmer in Conway, Mass.

— Photo by DrunkDriver