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I still remember when Obama (or was it Bush?) passed the Disaster Federal Aid which meant that anytime farmers crops were not great due to weather or whatever, that taxpayers would pay full value of their crops even though they didn't have to deliver anything... BIGGEST DUMB MOVE EVER... basically it says, fill out this form and get free millions courtesy of taxpayers... huh? Last time I check, when something happened to me, nobody came up (especially the Federal government) and said, here you go, free money for you... I hate Big Business... I really do..
I'm going to go with the farmers. Around here (Texas) they used to plant 2 seasons of crops.
About 3 years ago they stopped..only 1 season now. Farmers receive very little and take out huge loans. They barely make enough to survive til the next season. There's only 1 or 2 still by me that do a spring and fall planting.
And it's all turned to corn too. Used to be spread out..corn, sorghum,cotton. Guess the corn subsidy was too good to pass up.
I just read that Florida farmers may have some heavy damage to citrus and strawberries because of the cold snap. The radio said they were out today assessing the damage but even the sprinkler systems they use froze up it got so cold.
I still remember when Obama (or was it Bush?) passed the Disaster Federal Aid which meant that anytime farmers crops were not great due to weather or whatever, that taxpayers would pay full value of their crops even though they didn't have to deliver anything... BIGGEST DUMB MOVE EVER... basically it says, fill out this form and get free millions courtesy of taxpayers... huh? Last time I check, when something happened to me, nobody came up (especially the Federal government) and said, here you go, free money for you... I hate Big Business... I really do..
One thing you don't understand is they borrow heavy to get the seeds planted..the loans are short term. The harvest is how they pay back the loans. Can't let them get foreclosed on..who will grow the food for next year ?
I'm not talking about the corporations that run the farms; they are the biggest receivers of farm credit but instead the farmers that own thousands of acres and borrow from season to season to get the crops planted. These guys are barely existing once they harvest and sell; the farmers do not get big bucks. It's the middleman that makes out like a bandit here.
I've learned alot about ag, big ag and really big ag since moving to Texas.
Farmer's always say they're busted. It's a familiar litany which we hear every time the weather gets bad or prices go down. That's not to say some farmer's aren't busted, they are, but it's usually not as bad as they'd like you to believe. After all, if you think they're having a hard time, you'll support more crop subsidies.
I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a friend some years ago:
"So, how's farming these days, Earl?"
"Oh, I'm broke. It's really bad. Commodity prices are way down. I only made $4000 this year."
Further conversation revealed these facts:
He borrowed money from the PCA or Land Bank to not only cover the cost of putting in his crop, but to maintain, harvest and transport that crop to market. It also included the cost of a new combine. In other words, he borrowed the whole enchilada, from start to finish, with the intention of paying off the loan when he sold his crop.
But, there's more. He also borrowed his total estimated cost of living, including house, car, land and equipment payments, plus the cost of his utilities, food, medical care, college for his daugther etc. Everything, for the whole year; ever penny he budgeted to spend.
At the end of the year, he sold his crop at those "way down" prices and paid off the loan AND put $4000 in the bank. That's NET profit, folks, above and beyone every penny he spent for the entire year!
But, he was "broke." At the time, I was driving a truck and making about $40,000 a year and living from pay check to pay check. At the end of my year, I didn't have enough in savings to make it more than 2 weeks without work, but HE'S broke?
I hate to admit it, but I had a hard time working up much sympathy for him. A $4000 net year didn't look too bad to me, and nobody was offering me a subsidy to make up the "difference" between what I banked and what I thought I should have banked.
And, as for those "corporate farms?"
Yeah, it's easy to get outraged about that, ain't it, but just what IS a corporate farm? And, how many of them are there?
I have another friend in SE Colorado who farms over 5000 acres. It's all his, privately owned, but his farm is incorporated for tax purposes. If he gets as subsidy (which he does), is that subsidizing "corporate farms" or subsidizing a private farmer? Is that outrageous or not?
Here's another example: Nakashima Farms. It's a family-owned, privately held corporation which farms over a quarter of a million acres in South Texas and Colorado. Is that subsidizing a "corporate farm," or is that helping out a family farm?
I still remember when Obama (or was it Bush?) passed the Disaster Federal Aid which meant that anytime farmers crops were not great due to weather or whatever, that taxpayers would pay full value of their crops even though they didn't have to deliver anything... BIGGEST DUMB MOVE EVER... basically it says, fill out this form and get free millions courtesy of taxpayers... huh? Last time I check, when something happened to me, nobody came up (especially the Federal government) and said, here you go, free money for you... I hate Big Business... I really do..
I complete understand where you are coming from but also keep in mind, the United States has some of the cheapest food on earth. The consumer cost per calorie of food has dropped dramatically over the past 20 years.
With food being so cheap the margins for catastrophe have become much greater and when there is a drought or flood and crops are lost, often the only farms capable of sustaining are those massive corporate mega farms. What would be the result of losing 10% of our farmers for a season or two? While I'm sure in time we would recover, there is at least a year or two in which we would see a sharp rise in prices and greater dependence on foreign sources of our food supply. (currently the US is now a net importer of food)
I wrote my Congressmen several times over the 2009 food safety act, which had a provision that would require anyone (not just those listed as having farm status) who sold vegetables to the public would be required to have a federal license. So Martha, the old lady down the road who used to sell a few tomato's on a table at the end of her driveway would now be required to have a license.
It was pretty easy to see that big ag was pushing the legislation to squeeze the small and mid sized farmer even more. Old MacDonald is dead, sad to say.
I complete understand where you are coming from but also keep in mind, the United States has some of the cheapest food on earth. The consumer cost per calorie of food has dropped dramatically over the past 20 years.
With food being so cheap the margins for catastrophe have become much greater and when there is a drought or flood and crops are lost, often the only farms capable of sustaining are those massive corporate mega farms. What would be the result of losing 10% of our farmers for a season or two? While I'm sure in time we would recover, there is at least a year or two in which we would see a sharp rise in prices and greater dependence on foreign sources of our food supply. (currently the US is now a net importer of food)
I wrote my Congressmen several times over the 2009 food safety act, which had a provision that would require anyone (not just those listed as having farm status) who sold vegetables to the public would be required to have a federal license. So Martha, the old lady down the road who used to sell a few tomato's on a table at the end of her driveway would now be required to have a license.
It was pretty easy to see that big ag was pushing the legislation to squeeze the small and mid sized farmer even more. Old MacDonald is dead, sad to say.
What has happened with that "food safety act" anyway? I was following it, it is a horrible piece of legislation, and then it just got lost in my life...I have been only focusing on my local suppliers (ranchers and farmers) for food and have settled nicely into a regular thing...
What has happened with that "food safety act" anyway? I was following it, it is a horrible piece of legislation, and then it just got lost in my life...I have been only focusing on my local suppliers (ranchers and farmers) for food and have settled nicely into a regular thing...
Apparently it is still in committee, thank the stars.
Happytex and TN I can't rep you again but to add to your words...
The greenies are right about shopping local. When I lived on long island I stuck with the long island potatoes, the last hold out farmers who refused to sell out to yet another developer of gated community mcmansions none of the natives could afford.
How many things are left on your market shelves made in America, made in your home town? Rail too hard against migrant workers as illegal status, that just might be the straw that blows any ability to compete for the shelf space in our own markets. Migrant workers could just assume travel to chile or brazil to harvest their fruit, sold to us cheaper but at a huge cost of increased trade imbalance. I've even heard of american farmers buying land in chile and managing it from remote, then importing. Cost per acre, lower taxation, lower liability, and low wages was too attractive.
Most people have problems with the fact that 80% of farm subsidy never makes it to family farms avg americans mean to be helping. Most of it is eaten up by agrabiz. Was it the congressman or senator from Nebraska expressing his disdain for the tilted legislation? Scammers... sure there's got to be a few. I presume, like any small biz not showing a profit for too long, eventually they're deemed a non- business entity by tax declarations, unless they've been exempted from that too. I never saw that exception.
Happytex and TN I can't rep you again but to add to your words...
The greenies are right about shopping local. When I lived on long island I stuck with the long island potatoes, the last hold out farmers who refused to sell out to yet another developer of gated community mcmansions none of the natives could afford.
How many things are left on your market shelves made in America, made in your home town? Rail too hard against migrant workers as illegal status, that just might be the straw that blows any ability to compete for the shelf space in our own markets. Migrant workers could just assume travel to chile or brazil to harvest their fruit, sold to us cheaper but at a huge cost of increased trade imbalance. I've even heard of american farmers buying land in chile and managing it from remote, then importing. Cost per acre, lower taxation, lower liability, and low wages was too attractive.
Most people have problems with the fact that 80% of farm subsidy never makes it to family farms avg americans mean to be helping. Most of it is eaten up by agrabiz. Was it the congressman or senator from Nebraska expressing his disdain for the tilted legislation? Scammers... sure there's got to be a few. I presume, like any small biz not showing a profit for too long, eventually they're deemed a non- business entity by tax declarations, unless they've been exempted from that too. I never saw that exception.
I'm all in favor of local AG, as the cost of transportation alone is greatly reduced out of fuel consumption alone. It also is a means to help sustain smaller farmers who are willing to diversify instead of the more mono-cultivation theme that dominates modern AG. While the returns on crops are greater, there is also the diversification of risk, in case a single crop fails. Its simply a good idea three ways to Tuesday, even if mother nature offers conditions that effect all crops.
Relating to this and to the OP was this portion of the article posted in the original link
Quote:
The effects of the fall rains were compounded because many farmers were late planting as a result of unusually wet weather in May. As a result, many corn-growers weren't able to put fertilizer out.
While it focuses on our very wet fall season, we also had a very wet spring season as well. It helped out the hay producers but crops like corn, beans, peppers, and tomato's weren't nearly what they were last year.
I am not well versed enough in how the USDA compiles its data to dispute their findings, but I am skeptical of them from what I know of regional agriculture yields this past season. A gentlemen that lives across the way from me once said, "The fastest way to go broke is to become a farmer", so I asked why he does it then. To which is reply was, "Its all I know, its all we have ever done" (referring to several generations prior)
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