[snarf21]

For perspective, my parents both grew up on farms and I spent my summers on them. You are right but "farming" used to be a family with 3 acres and an ox and a plow. These small farms you lament are just as much a whole new world to the ox and plow as a 16/20 row combine that can process 150 acres a day is to your childhood. Efficiency comes from specialization which creates incentives for economies of scale. Software will continue to eat the world.