Posted on 05/14/2008 2:04:52 PM PDT by groanup
Actually around 60% of cattle raisers in the market run less than 150 head. Only your big feedlot operators and big ranchers ( over 400 acres and only in a few states ) run big operations. I am not as versed on crop farmers but I’ll bet at least half of the cotton/grain farmers run less than half a section and work 12-14 hours a day as well rain or shine.
They do it out of pride. The like getting up and answering to no man, they like seeing the fruit of their labors every day, they like the life style of raising a God fearing family away from crime and mtv, and they like eating what they raise.
The reward is standing on your porch, and even though you are in debt up the wazoo on your land and equipment and you are taxed heavily on your land because someone wants to buy it to build a mall or housing addition, you take great satisfaction in knowing you are in an honest job that benefits every human on earth ( abstractly thinking ) not some salesman, programmer, investor, or cook who slugs a wage for the man. watching you children run around in clean air and being able to be out after dark.
The reward has nothing to do with money. Try for a while if you can afford it and you’ll see.
Please tell me again how wanting to NOT pay $5 billion a year in subsidies is interfering with farm operations. This should be a good one.
Oh, and I've had to re-do my entire way of working three times in my life to keep up with technological changes. So don't act like non-farmers have it easy.
Large agri outfits get the lions share of subsidies. Cutting back on those will not impact average farmers. Try again.
All the farmers I know do not take subsides. So what’s you point? Mine is that subsides benefit small farmers is incorrect as most do not get them so cutting them is okay, but uninformed people think that all farmers reap big subsides.
Try real farming ( not some 15 acre hobby farm ) depending on that income alone no matter what obstacles you hit for a couple years and get back to me.
Farmers I know are driving new diesel pickups and their wives have Caddys and Lexii.
It wasn’t good for a long time but it is now.
Every dog has his day.
I hope the commies don’t convince the gullible that farmers are as evil as oil corporations and other capitalists. If the government screws up agriculture, we’re dead. Starvation has been used as political control before. Read some Russian history.
On the contrary, most sugar consumed in the US is from foreign sources, refined and marketed by east coast refineries. Domestic cane sugar production is minimal as compared to domestic consumption. The Philippines is a major exporter - as well as other countries - to the US since Ferdinand Marcos. The US pays a premium price for Filipino sugar as a supplemental foreign aide.
Well you know what they say: "fat pigs get slaughtered".
Most is more than 50%. You have a source?
“When your machinery costs upwards for $250,000 for almost any of it, and there is a 15 month waiting period, then you will learn about basic economics.”
Seems to me that the basic lesson here is that plenty of farmers have the money to buy this expensive equipment. They have depleted the supply therefore there is a 15 month waiting period. this situation does not agree with all the information we receive about the struggling farmer. If he were truly struggling the implement dealers lots would be full of equipment since no one could afford it.
“This country needs to revere the farmers and ranchers—not keep finding more ways to interfere with their operations”
I agree, however the argument goes both ways. I dont believe the government should interfere in the farmer’s operations from a regulatory standpoint. Nor do I feel the government should fund the farmer’s operation by providing support in the form of taxpayer dollars
I am not sure if you are a livestock rancher or not, I cannot tell from your post. If you are, you should be screaming the loudest criticizing this particular bill. This bill singles out commodity producers and heaps generous subsidies on the farmers that produce a few select grains. Livestock producers as well as fruit and vegetable growers are left to fend for themselves. This is one major problem among many in this bill that need to be addressed.
Unfortunately in this day and age, a half a section of land (320 acres) would not allow a farmer to operate a profitable operation. In most cases the with the size of equipment that is in operation, a half section would probably take only two to three average days to work and prepare for crops. It would be very difficult to provide a living on such a small piece of land. Many farmers in my area rent upwards of 2500 to 4000 acres of land.
“They do it out of pride. The like getting up and answering to no man, they like seeing the fruit of their labors every day, they like the life style of raising a God fearing family away from crime and mtv, and they like eating what they raise”.
Answering to no man? That is fine, but in a sense the government who provides the commodity farmer with a check each year is the man. Each year the farmer plants a crop he answers to the man so he can receive his subsidy payment.
“The reward is standing on your porch, and even though you are in debt up the wazoo on your land and equipment and you are taxed heavily on your land because someone wants to buy it to build a mall or housing addition, you take great satisfaction in knowing you are in an honest job that benefits every human on earth ( abstractly thinking ) not some salesman, programmer, investor, or cook who slugs a wage for the man. watching you children run around in clean air and being able to be out after dark.”
Again you are answering to the man if you up to your wazoo in debt. You are not as free as you once might imagined. The deeper you are in debt the more you will answer to the man (i.e. creditor(s)).
Everyone, even farmers in one way or the other answer to the man. The idea of not answering to the man is appealing, but I dont think it is possible in this day and age.
P.S. I dont want to try farming since all I have heard is that there is no money in it.
I don’t have a source readily available. However, I worked in the sugar industry for over 16 years and I’m using what I remember. I’ve been to all the current sugar producing areas in the US as well as several outside the US. I’ve also attended sessions with Congressman Kika Delagarza - not sure of the spelling - who was well versed on the sugar politics in the US.
I will admit that I may not have the most recent stats but there are fewer cane sugar producers in the US for sure and consumption is up. I have kept abreast of most current news on sugar. I can do that math.
What are your sources?
You worked in the business for 16 years and you're forgetting sugar beets?
What are your sources?
Start here. Let me know if that agrees with your most claim.
Thank you. 70 some percent of the farm bill cost is for food stamps and other nutrition programs. They have the votes because of this. We are at the end of the cheap food policies of the past and the consumer had better get used to increasing food prices.
I specifically refer to sugar cane. I cannot speak for sugar beets.
I guess it is possible that most of the cane sugar we consume is foreign.
I cannot speak for sugar beets.
Those pesky things that make most American sugar?
I have heard the Coca Cola from Mexico tastes wonderful.
It does. We recently started carrying it at all of our locations. It's $1.79 in a glass bottle for a ~20oz vs $1.29 for the regular 20oz coke we carry.
Oh? So where can I get it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.