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The countryside around here gives you an idea of the challenges involved in achieving economies of scales in agriculture around here.
Certainly looks picturesque, but no sooner have you turned your combine-harvester around, you’re at the end of the field again.
These patchwork structures developed over generations – children inherit the farm, so it’s split up (if they haven’t been otherwise compensated), son marries a local girl so one field’s here and the other’s waaay over there.
Their son marries a girl from the next village, so they’ve got a field over there. Let that run for a few generations (and 9 aren’t uncommon around here) and what you see here is what you end up with. You can spend all day driving from one field to the next.
Attempts are sometimes made to consolidate fields in a process called Flurbereinigung, but no-one’s ever really happy.
Everyone reckons that the land they got out of the deal is too steep/too flat/doesn’t drain well/drains too quickly/has too many weeds/isn’t as fertile as the old field/is too far away/isn’t far enough away/too big/too small……
Mainz Daily Photo 
>I used to love seeing these patchwork acres while gazing out the window on low-flying aircraft. One of the lost pleasure in high-flying jets.
>Human nature rears its head and shows how people are never satisfied. You have caught a lovely patchwork quilt of fields. Too bad they can’t be consolidated and really do some good.
>Your photograph is nice, John, and your description of fields and owners is almost identical to here. Farming here is nowhere near what it used to be when I was growing up. Now, among other things, farmers are actually paid not to grow anything. Some get paid handsome amounts of money to let their fields grow up into a wildnerness (which I like).Interesting post.Best Wishes for a nice week,Abraham LincolnTufted-titmouse slobbers