Why would farmers extend themselves so much that one bad year breaks them? Why wouldn't they set aside some of that good money so in bad year they could still pay the bills?
When you lose the land, lease, or go bankrupt, your land gets snapped up by huge corporate farms that can run at a higher margin, driving down food prices over the long term, making smaller farms less and less viable.
If you own, you can select even segments of fields to harvest at more optimal times (a down grade, or wetter, portion of a field may harvest differently than an uphill, drier portion).
It sucks either way.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/supreme-court-mons...
But even the intention behind the distinction is wrong, as not wanting to be a huge agricultural business doesn't mean you're not professional.
In fact, quality-wise the smaller shops can be much more professional. So, no, actually, those are farmers, of the kind with the smaller lots, that have always been there and fed humanity for millennia.
The other are just big business conglomerates who don't give a fuck about farming and just happened to be in the agriculture business -- and will do anything to drop their margins and sell crap.
I hope that they get zero consideration from those who are supposed to help farmers, and hopefully are driven out of farming.
Big businesses have failed to do so, and small family shops have survived for centuries...
So, taking a bit hit, or even dying, on some "not great years", is not a criterion for business vs hobby at all.