But other changes over time were not as easy on the farming tradition. With the high cost of equipment and operation, margins became so thin that farmers needed more acreage to produce a crop that would provide for a family. Yet it was hard to acquire more acres because the cost of land was continually rising. And as longtime family farmers began to rent out their land — known as “cash rent” — it became commonplace to rent to the highest bidder, not your longtime next-door neighbor who would like to grow his operation.