Andrew Jackson said, “The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer ...are the bone and sinew of the country...” Benjamin Franklin said, “...agriculture...wherein man receives a real increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God in his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry. And Daniel Webster said, most succinctly, “When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization.

Without agriculture, without the farmer and the herder, in all their variants, our world would not exist. The farmer, however, by the very nature and conditions of his, or her, calling, is isolated, far too often cut off from the information and tools needed to ease the risks and burdens of farming, and to share fairly in the proceeds of his labor. Price volatility, the danger of dishonest middlemen, lack of knowledge or control over the marketing and processing of the crops and animals, all combine to keep the small farmer in a perpetual cycle of debt and uncertainty.

Over the years, various initiatives, innovations, and movements have attempted to level the playing field for the farmer. The Grange movement in the US in the 19^th Century, and the present day agricultural cooperatives, set the stage for positive action by farmers themselves. Commercial innovation, as seen in the establishment of the e-choupal system by ITC in India, the rural, if not directly agricultural, projects of Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Group, i.e., Grameen Bank Grameen Shikkha Grameen Shokti Grameen Phone, in Bangladesh, the 28,000 grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives, 180 million farm families taking part in them, in China, and more, work toward the increase competence of the small farmer. It’s our hope, over time, to aid in that effort, add to that increased competence, aid the farmer in his work, and in the realization of benefit from that work, and to cushion work, resources, and future from the uncertainties of the world around, to whatever extent possible.

We intend to supply, in this first effort and in upcoming revisions of the GlobalFarming site, ways and means for the global agricultural community to strengthen, leverage, and advance itself.

In this launch edition, we’ll touch on, among other things, agricultural machinery, farm equipment, agricultural products, seed and fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, agricultural commodities, livestock , poultry, irrigation, desalination, windmills, well drilling, and more.