Posted on 07/20/2018 6:10:06 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
RANSOM, Kan.—The Farm Belt is hurtling toward a milestone: Soon there will be fewer than two million farms in America for the first time since pioneers moved westward after the Louisiana Purchase.
Across the heartland, a multiyear slump in prices for corn, wheat and other farm commodities brought on by a glut of grain world-wide is pushing many farmers further into debt. Some are shutting down, raising concerns that the next few years could bring the biggest wave of farm closures since the 1980s.
The U.S. share of the global grain market is less than half what it was in the 1970s. American farmers’ incomes will drop 9% in 2017, the Agriculture Department estimates, extending the steepest slide since the Great Depression into a fourth year.
“You keep pinching and pinching and pretty soon there’s nothing left to pinch,” said Craig Scott, a fifth-generation farmer in this Western Kansas town.
From his father’s porch, the 56-year-old can see the windswept spot where his great-grandparents’ sod house stood in 1902 when they planted the first of the 1,200 acres on which his family farms alfalfa, sorghum and wheat today. Even after harvesting one of their best wheat crops ever last year, thanks to plentiful rain and a mild winter, Mr. Scott isn’t sure how long they can afford to keep farming that ground.
Costs for seeds, fertilizer and equipment climbed so high and grain prices dropped so low that he still lost more than $120 an acre. Afraid to come up short again, Mr. Scott decided last fall not to plant 170 acres of winter wheat, close to a third of the usual amount. U.S. farmers sowed the fewest acres of winter wheat this season in more than a century.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Fake news, in the ‘60s we were all told the earf couldn’t sustain 3 billion people, we’re over 7 billion now. We have all starved to death and wheat is more valuable by weight than gold. Do I need the sarc tag?
This is what happens when the government interferes with the markets.
Yeah, that was my cynical view too. “Wonder what farm subsidy bill is on the table, and needs support”.
The farm bill is a porkulus for agribiz, not family farmers
Yes, corporate ownership of farmland essentially turns our farms into "Collective Farms", just like in the Soviet Union.
Will Congress Pass a Bloated Farm Bill?
We know the answer,but still worth the read.
Ah the Never Trump WSJ still at it
Yeah...and those with knowledge about seeds for cold climates....as the Sun has gone Sessions (sleeping, for those in Rio Linda)....so lack of sunspots implies a cooler climate.
You know they are going to blame tariffs even though this slump has been going for about 5 years.
I thought we just passed a farm bill to throw them some bucks until times get better, no?
Over 75% of the farm bill is SNAP (food stamps). If the prices do not rebound there will be a huge crisis in the farm belt. Current commodity prices are below COP
I’ve seen milk prices so low it’s almost free. Why are butter and cheese so expensive? I’ve been trying to figure that out for some time.
My husband’s father was paid $13.80/hundred weight in 1963, today his brother is paid $15.30. I don’t think I need to expand on the economics of that :(
Oh, gawd, PLEASE tell me this will NOT result in another big televised concert with Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamp.
Well wasn’t this one of the goals of the EPA under Democrat control?
My hub’s family orchards started in the late 1800’s in Oregon..used to be Red Delicious Apples (remember them?). Now, it’s all pears. It takes an average of 10-12 years for a pear tree to come to production. Over the years it has required row structure changes, fans for freeze prevention, etc. THERE’S ALWAYS SOmeTHING! (There are still, however, some 100 year old pear trees in the orchard...which is now leased, and will be sold within 5 years.) The new owner IS diversified with a company selling fruit boxes in mostly the off season. Farming is NOT easy.
Bookmark
Will see the day when farms are reduced in size.
“The day will come when people who know how to farm will be worth their weight in gold.”
Tasteslike bacon.
The “new” dairy farmer is lax. My best friend from the Brussels WI area turned his farm over to his nephew.
The kid was taught to mix all his feed together and feed all the cows the same ration. So the dry cows get the same feed as the producing cows. Kid has problems with milk fever and feed costs are extreme.
Feed the cows dry hay and let em out on pasture in the summer. Feed each cow only the amount of ground feed they need. In the winter, feed them dry hay, corn silage, and ground feed each cow requires.
We had cows that were 10 to 12 years old feeding that way. Now, cows last about 7 to 8 years if lucky.
The feed corn got cultivated and way less than half of the insecticide and fertilizer they use today. They are using more and more insecticide today, because the insects are adapting to the insecticides. Pouring massive amounts of fertilizers on to jump yields...that crap is expensive.
See the problem here?
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