Gives descriptions of the lending policies of banks, the government price controls and the production methods of agribusiness that make it difficult for the independent farmer to compete. This title provides portraits of different types of farmers, then the various barbed asides in the three long essays on how farmers can and do make money.

- Noel Perrin, "Smithsonian". Bryan Jones maintains strong ties to the land and teaches reading at McCook Junior High School in McCook, Nebraska. His articles have appeared in "New Farm", "New Land Review", "North Dakota Quarterly", and other magazines. In a new afterword, he discusses the current status of "the farming game."