Farmers: Get a Job!

Future of Freedom Foundation ^ | February 2002 | Sheldon Richman

[Jay W]

Yes, yes, I am glad that I can see your point. Yes, farmers are dependent on magazine editors, not the other way around! I am really glad you cleared that up!

By the way, do you eat?

[jrherreid]

Their headquarters is in Cabot, VT. The farm I used to work for was in Waterford, but I think they have farmers all over the state that participate (as far as I know).

[jrherreid]

Ditto.

[jrherreid]

What a load of crap. You either know nothing about markets and price mechanisms or you're just blindly parroting the Welfare Farmer line.

Your logic would work if you were talking about manufactured goods. But you're not, and you evidently enjoy showing off your ignorance. Say a farmer has a 100 acre field. He can only produce 500 bushels of wheat off of it. Then the price suddenly drops. He can't just produce more off of that field in order to try and recoup losses, he just has to sell at the lower price.

[Rutabega]

How much does it cost in other countries? Any idea?

Basic cereal (we can't get much more than that, LOL!) costs about $2.50-$3.50 for a large box in Sweden--I'm just answering the question! Chicken, however, is like $6.50/lb.!

[MightyMouth]

Well, dear, since you are so clever, you can figure out for yourself that each post should have some ability to stand alone, or risk being misunderstood. That was why, btw, I asked for clarification instead of assuming that it was an attack. I see by your present tone that it was indeed an attack so bug off.

[Hank Rearden]

Say a farmer has a 100 acre field. He can only produce 500 bushels of wheat off of it. Then the price suddenly drops. He can't just produce more off of that field in order to try and recoup losses, he just has to sell at the lower price.

Ok, so what? And why does the price "suddenly drop"? Magic, or too many farmers cranking out too much of the same stuff?

Sounds a whole lot like supply and demand to me - you know, the concept that governs any commodity business.

Nobody said being in business was easy; the solution, if you can't hack it, is not to bribe politicians to go grab somebody else's money and give it to you. Why do you deserve the money more than those who earned it, anyway? Presumably, those people produced a product or service that others wanted, at a price that was profitable. So why do you deserve to have that money if you didn't earn it?

Being adept at bribing politicians shouldn't be the basis of one's income. Time for Welfare Farmers to get their hands out of other citizens' pockets; there is NO justification to steal other people's money, no matter how much you try to dress it up Norman-Rockwell style.

[rollin]

Do you have any idea how much of the cost of a box of Corn Flakes is received by the farmer?

Answer: For the 48 oz. box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes which will cost probably more than $4.00 at your local supermarket, the farmer gets less than 3 cents.

[southland]

I was in Ireland last year and saw very many big tractors which cost big bucks here in the states . The fields in Ireland are very small due to the rock fences that have been erected through the eons. There is absolutely no way they could afford these very expensive tractors without extensive government help. Yet our farmers are expected to compete with these government subsidized operations with out help. There is absolutely no way we will have the very inexpensive food without assistance from the government . They can't compete with the government subsidized farmers in other parts of the world. We will wake up some day and wonder what happened to our source of food. I grew up on a farm and know firsthand what I am talking about. I would have farmed like my father did but realized that I could not have my basic needs met from farming.

[Hank Rearden]

Answer: For the 48 oz. box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes which will cost probably more than $4.00 at your local supermarket, the farmer gets less than 3 cents.

So what's your point? Seems to me that farmers ought to explore getting into the box business.

Or, perhaps, if they have that little leverage, we have 'way too many farmers.

Let the free market decide; Big Stupid Government theft does nothing but distort the market at the expense of productive people, rewarding Welfare Farmers for being good lobbyiests.

I don't think that's what the Founding Fathers had in mind; do you?

[southland]

RE post 147: We will wake up some day and wonder where the cheap food went. Our farmers are competing with government subsidized faarming in other parts of the world. A little more pressure and a lot of farmers will quit farming by necessity. There could very well be mass starvation due to puting our farmers out of business. There are already a lot of people starving in the world today . Instead of droping bombs we should address the problem of food distribution. Then so many angry people will feel better about the USA.

[Hank Rearden]

If you can't make a living without Big Stupid Government stealing other people's money and giving it to you, then you really don't know how to make a living, do you?

Is theft ok if it benefits the "right" people?

I say screw it: kill the subsidies NOW. We won't starve. We're the United Damn States of America. We'll be fine.

It's hard to understand how so many people can be such weenies about being productive and self-reliant. I guess that's what welfare will do to you - it robs you of self-respect and self-reliance, doesn't it?

[Hank Rearden]

That sounds *exactly* like the crap the democRATs spew all day long - "We're all going to DIE if we don't let government take care of everything."

Well, guess what? We're tired of these lame threats. Damn tired. We do NOT believe you!

Tell you what - let's try it. Let's get Welfare Farmers off the taxpayer tit. I dare you. We'll be fine.

[Iowa Granny]

Well, when things get rough, and the supermarket shelves are sparce, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT come whining to my house asking to buy the prime meat (that I grew myself) out of my freezer. Maintaining our own source of food is the absolute most empowering act any nation can maintain. I am not interested in trading your reading material for my food,,,, farmers can get all the reading material we need off the net for free. We don't need you, either. Put some cream and sugar on that shredded newsprint,,, it should be real tasty,,, almost as good as the homegrown Prime Rib I fixed for dinner tonite.

[B4Ranch]

I can tell you a little bit about my own experiences with crops. This is the 'short story'. When I was a youngster in my early 20's I drove produce semi's coast to coast. Refrigerated trailors was what I pulled. All unprocessed crops are hauled by "independant trucking". Why ? Because the loads in each growing areas were never consistant year to year.

Some years, apples in Washington State were plentiful, others very few loads. It all depended on the weather, and how much rain, frost, wind or insects they got. When the first frosts came in the spring, what month. Or did they get a warm spell in the winter and the trees budded then another month of winter weather and killed the fresh buds. Did the cold weather come down from Canada or up from Oregon? That was the decider on whether apples would be plentiful in the Northern Counties or the Southern Counties. Once the trees budded did a strong wind come through the area and blow half the buds off the trees, or did a strong rain come in wash the buds off the trees just before they reached period when they would germinate the other trees? In mid growing season did the rain keep coming or stop? Did the winds bring in a heavy bark insect infestation. Was the weather good for the apple worms in the North or the South that year? Those were the deciding factors on where the loads came from and it also decided if the farmers made money or lost money that year? Some years the Northern Counties would do great and the Southern Counties would have another year of 40% production. It also decided if the price of apple sauce was cheap in the stores and the price of apples was high.

How do you keep a trucking company operating with the drivers, mechanics, dispatchers working when there isn't enough produce loads within 300 miles to keep everyone working 5 days a week? It's simple you can't.

So that is why produce is hauled by the "independants". The guys who are willing to live on the road 28 days a month. The guys who never knew what section of North America the work would be in that year. By the way, the processing plants don't move every year.

That's my experiences with apple produce growers. I hauled everything from apples to frozen orange juice and dry frieght. Now, if you want my experiences with cattle ranching I can go on for days. Do you really want to know why the price of baled hay goes from $40.00 a ton to $200.00 a ton in one year? Then you pay the phone bill and give me a call sometime.

[RJCogburn]

Right you are, Hank. We have a lot of people who are all for small government and the rest, except when it comes to their vital activity. How did we ever survive those first 150 years of the republic?

[ken21]

that's 2 much reality for these "shoot from the hip" folks!

yeah, i grew up on a dairy farm in the '50s on the great plains. my father and brother are still doing that, working 365 days a year from 5am-9pm because they cannot get hired help. my father's 87, going on 88, and still going strong.

there's no money in it for the small (300 holsteins) family farm.

and the big guys (2000+ cows)get the large government subsidies, while using illegals.

[B4Ranch]

I would imagine the majority of them have never grown a successful family garden. The onres who have undoubtably complained about the water bills.

[lara]

Thank you very much for all you do.

[jonathonandjennifer]

More important if a farmer is hit with bad weather destroying his crop he's likely done for an entire year...

I assume then, that when farmers have an especially good year, they return money to the treasury?