The Pitchfork Story

A certain young man had been raised on the farm. As is to be expected of youth, he tired quickly of his daily chores and vowed to show 'em how to do it right. To this end, he studied well and when the opportunity arose he went off to college. He worked hard and excelled in his studies. In the process, he became enamored with technology and in his more private moments thought that this was the means to better living on the farm. In due time, he graduated with honors and returned to his home in the country. Being proud of his son's achievements, his father had managed to purchase a neighboring farm as a gift for the son. It wasn't much, but it was a good start.

The young man was pleased with this acquisition as it was reputed to have rich soil and he felt sure that success was guaranteed. When planning for the growing season, he examined each plot, doing a full soil analysis looking at the nutrient levels, moisture retention properties, and all kinds of other things that he learned about in college. Gathering all this information into a database, he did a full analysis to optimize the productivity of his farm. Armed with this information, he tilled, planted, and fertilized each plot with all the precision that technology provided. It wasn't long until the neighbors, including his father, were taking note of the new efficiencies. The wheat was thicker, the corn was taller, and the whole farm looked like a veritable Garden of Eden. His farm became the showcase of the county. However, there was one field that proved to be a problem for this ingenious young man. Based on his analysis, this field was ideal for hay. He had been pleased with this bit of knowledge as prime hay brought a good price in this county and he had counted on this crop to be the 'crowning glory' of his efforts. The problem was that he was able to mow and rake the hay, and it was a beautiful crop that gave off that fresh hay scent as it dried, but the lay of the land would not allow him to get into the field with his bailer. Oh, he had tried several times, but each time he had gotten the bailer stuck before getting too far into the field. Of course he was embarrassed as he used another tractor to tow the first out and he didn't want to talk about it. He had even tried one of those newer bailers that was promised to provide the highest yield. So while everyone was praising his efforts, this one field continued to bother him and he couldn't rest easy.

His father seemed to notice this and one day, while visiting, finally broached the subject. In his embarrassment, the son avoided the subject, but his father persisted until the young man finally admitted the problem. After going back to the field to survey the situation, his father gave a wise nod and said, "Son, remember that old pitchfork hanging up in the loft? Well, fetch it down and meet me here tomorrow at noon with your largest hay wagon." Puzzled by this, the young man did as he was instructed. When he arrived promptly at noon, the son was surprised to see all his neighbors gathered around his father, each carrying an old pitchfork. Following the wisdom of his father, the group quickly passed over the field, adeptly gathering the hay with the pitchforks and tossing each clump up onto the wagon. With the chatter among the neighbors, it seemed that in no time the wagon was filled and the field harvested. That evening as they celebrated over an old-fashioned carry-in dinner, one of the neighbors commented, "Well, just goes to show you. This high tech stuff sure may be good and all that, but when it comes down to the tough stuff you sure can't beat hard work and basic common sense!" Another neighbor huffed "Yup, just goes to show ya' how a bunch of little machines workin' together can do better than one high falootin' hunk of iron."

Putting this into the context of Pitchfork Solutions, LLC, one can say that with the right synergy a distributed solution employing appropriate technology can be more practical and economical than a monolithic one. It is in this light that we seek to find a pragmatic solution that is appropriate for the problem - a solution that meets the immediate needs economically and yet has the ability to expand and adjust to meet the needs of the future.