I was just reading "Our Patchwork Nation" on Kindle. In the chapter on Tractor country, the author recorded a cogent observation that I think would apply to us in forming one or more Torah communities, whether on the kibbutz or moshav, or modified moshav.

In former days, "[l]and was relatively cheap at $2,500 or $3,000 per acre. It's about $7,000 now. And that's before purchasing the necessary machinery, all of which has become more expensive and technically complicated....We could take young farmers that wanted to get into farming, help them set up with the livestock operation, and they could generate enough income just to live on the farm, probably build up some equity and start to grow that way. But because of the cost of operation anymore, that's probably not the case anymore."