Read this blog, then post your comments on it, if you like...

[Icu4dzs]

b) farming is more difficult than in the past because of the costs of everything. A Farmer has to raise more crops just to be able to make ends meet financially.

Really? My FIL has been farming the same ground, 3k + acres for 3 generations. He has a new round of high tech equipment every year. I'm not saying this is every farmer, not by a long shot. But it bothers me when people lump the general 'farmer' populace as being a struggling entity. What you see on TV, or better yet, WHO you see on TV is what they want you to see.

Land has gone from $300/acre to $2500/acre since 2001. Steel has gone up to $.91/pound. I can go on but it would appear that your FIL has been fortunate to have his 3k acres for 3 generations because young folks where I am are struggling. Folks who have been farming for 3 generations are much better off than folks trying to start out and make a career of farming.

Machinery is expensive. A JD 5425 with a cab and loader cost $55,000. It has rained 5 inches in the last week. The beans all have "wet feet" now.

Last season's corn didn't come out of the fields in some cases until this spring because the fields were so wet. Some folks were able to combine over the Christmas holidays in the freezing cold. Some in January. Fields were wet last spring and prevented planting out here as well.

Corn was down below $2.40/bushel this year. A bushel of corn this year weighed about 43 pounds, which is down from the usual 53 pounds. My corn had to be dried at $1.05/bushel. The seed, fertilizer and diesel oil to get it in and out of the field was $1.40 bushel.That certainly doesn't pay for labor or repairs to machinery that gets stuck in the mud. So this year it cost me money to raise corn rather than make money. Would you care to guess how long a person can stay in the farming business with those statistics?

Folks who buy machinery and land often do it with huge loans which they expect will be paid when the crop comes in. This year, it sure wasn't a winning proposition.

Most of the struggles I have seen put farmers out of business had to do more with taxes and farm subsidy issues than it had to do with weather and crop yields. Inheritance taxes have destroyed more farms than drought in my estimation.

O, yeah, I forgot to mention the above...taxes. They don't get paid very fast when you lose money farming. You have to take your hat in your hand and ask Uncle Sam for a short reprieve on them for next year.

Most of the folks in my area lost their shirts because of this so if you think this information came from the MSM on TV, I would respectully choose to disagree.

 

[bibliophile birds]

This may cost me but I really think the difference between the Whole Food crowd and the people here is that they have more money.

i guess i see where you're coming from with a thought like that, but it's just not true. i could very, very easily be buying all my food at Whole Foods and saving myself a lot of hard work and headache, but i choose the hard work- because it's good for me, because it helps rebuild my local farming community, and because i'm stubborn.

and i know people who live on very, very little money each month who still shop at Whole Foods. they can't raise their own because of where they live but they are dedicated to their principles. whatever they can't get from local farmers they get at Whole Foods (well, Earthfare since that's the organic grocery here). they made the decision that, if it came down to cable tv or good, honest, organic food, they were taking the food.

 

[pioneergirl]

I am respectfully walking away from this thread now. I just don't get why some people assume they know others, this is twice its happened to me on this forum, actually more than twice. You all have a good day.