[Conservative Goddess]

"If you look at the average income and average net worth of our farmers today you will find that the vast majority of them are doing very well."

Support for this assertion is? Dairy farmers in PA have gone bankrupt in record numbers. Family farmers may have a high net worth, but the return on that investment is abysmal. They are not "doing very well."

"Any products we currently produce, that are lost in the future to foreign competition, could certainly be produced again here in a very short period of time. "

Not if our farmland is put to another purpose. We currently have bgillions of acres devoted to farming....but as farming becomes less profitable, the land will be put to another use....and it may not be able to be recoverted.

Have you ever read a profit and loss statement for a family farm? Ever calculated ROI on a family farm? Every calculated the hourly wage earned from laboring on a family farm? They're all pitiful.

[Mase]

Support for this assertion is?.... Family farmers may have a high net worth, but the return on that investment is abysmal. They are not "doing very well."

From the linked article:

"Today, the average family farm has a household income of $64,347 (17 percent above the national average) and a net worth of over $563,600 (double the national average), which is even more impressive considering that the cost of living in rural areas is 10 percent to 40 percent lower than in urban areas.8 Farms fail at only one-sixth the rate of non-farm businesses, and only 4.5 percent of farms have enough debt to be considered vulnerable to bankruptcy.9 Yet Congress still votes to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars to farmers."

If farmers are hurting so badly why are there still more than two million farms in this country?

but as farming becomes less profitable, the land will be put to another use....and it may not be able to be recovered

Nonsense. Not only is farming becoming more profitable it's dong so without taxpayer assistance. Again, from the linked article:

"Although the vast majority of farms are doing well financially, the growers of unsubsidized crops actually have enjoyed faster-rising incomes than subsidized farmers; the absence of government intrusion proved to be more important to farmers' success than subsidies. The innovation and responsiveness to the market exhibited by unregulated farmers were major factors in the 22 percent increase in farm productivity over the past decade--a rate that bodes well for their continued financial success.11 By all indications, the farming industry will be able to continue thriving without unneeded and counterproductive farm subsidies"

Land may be put to other uses, but we will continue to produce more food on less land. To think that we will not have enough land, people or equipment to produce additional food, if needed, on short notice, just isn't supported by the facts.

Ever calculated ROI on a family farm? Every calculated the hourly wage earned from laboring on a family farm? They're all pitiful.

Their average annual income is higher than the national average, their cost of living is lower and their net worth is double the national average. If things were as bad as you claim, we would see a rapid decline in the number of family farms. It's not happening.