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The Tragedy Of The American Farmer, Revealed In A Craiglist "For Sale" Post
Not so long ago, US farmland - whose prices were until recently rising exponentially - was considered by many to be the next asset bubble. Then, almost overnight, the fairytale ended, and as reported in February, US farmland saw its first price drop since 1986.
But nobody has had it as bad as the US farmer, whose visions of fame and fortune have sadly gone up in a cloud of methanol smoke. Perhaps nothing captures the lives of quiet modern gothic desperation led by America's farmer than the following Craigslist posting about a Disk Ripper for sale.
* * *
Back when corn was trading at $6, I thought it'd be a good idea to buy an overpriced used disk ripper at retail dealership prices. Continuous corn was going to make everyone rich anyway, and I needed something to deal with the thick stover and stalk residue. Besides that, the neighbors had just bought a new one, and I figured I needed to get one too. With $350 DDGs, $450 soybean meal, $18 beans and $7 corn in 2012, it was looking like I had made a good decision. So I tore up the pastures, ripped out the fencelines, and almost convinced my wife to plant corn in our front yard.
But on the pedagogic scale of great ideas that just didn't seem to work out, this idea will probably end up ranking somewhere between "urinating directly onto an electric fence" and "sticking my hand into the baler to clear out the jam"......... I don't mean to suggest that it was a total failure, however, because the character building lessons of defeat have proven inordinately profitable over the years. And this one certainly had its share of lessons - financial and otherwise.
Anyway, as the alcohol-induced corn boom (ethanol) violently turned to bust, un-pleasant realities of that mystical numberland called "Finance" started to appear. Turns out that the banker actually wants his money back WITH interest! I couldn't believe it.......... I had gotten so used to the government's farm welfare programs when corn was $2 that I almost forgot how markets and financing was supposed to work! Direct payments would just magically appear in my checking account, and I was one of the best at playing the LDP game. And then when corn was $6-7, it didn't matter what the banker said, because I couldn't wake up without money falling into my hands from the corn gods in Chicago!
But now, with negative margins and stubbornly expensive inputs, I need to sell this piece of equipment. It is a used 7 shank M&W 1875 disk ripper. It has the auto-resets, which is nice. As you can see in the pics, there is no harrow on the back to level out the ridges. You might think that's a bad thing, but I've found that a particularly rough field keeps the trespassers, hunters, poachers, snowmobilers, and meth lab junkies out of the field during the winter. It is in good working condition. The paint is faded which is also a good thing, because then the neighbors won't get too jealous when you go by their new shop. It's been kept outside for as long as I've owned it because only the really expensive toys get put inside. If you drive by Vetter or Van Wall, you'll notice that pretty much all of their inventory is kept outside too, so I don't feel bad about it.
I think $8,900 is a fair price. But if you want to pay more, then that's fine too......... My goodness! Dec corn got slaughtered yesterday...... down another 20 cents after the Planting Intentions report....... Let's make it $8,500 and everyone goes home a winner!
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http://skeptiforum.org/richard-green-on-the-scientific-consensus-and-gmos/
But keep your Earth is only 6000 years old faith my friends.
What company do you work for?
One that has absolutely no ties to farming my friend, thanks for your concern. I appreciate it. :)
Well here is a little news for you; nobody trusts the GMO crap, or it's inventors, or those who tested it for the inventors.
Heirloom variety has worked for quite a while now, just not as massively profitable while pretending to know the long term effects that a mere 20 years has yet to prove.
But thanks for your concern and input; nobody gives a shit.
Nobody eh? ROFL. So you are in the dinosaurs cohabitated with humans category. Noted.
Pseudo intellectual with milk toast come back; NB.
What is so dangerous about a seedless grape or a crop carrying an enzyme that is not inhibited by glyphosphate (Roundup)? http://www.pnas.org/content/103/35/13010.full Of course all fruits & vegtables should be well-washed with Roundup around on principle, but that is about it.
In the grand scheme of biology these are ridiculously minor alterations. Of course you can have the "superweed" problem but that just requires finding another herbicide to do the job. You anti-science people just don't know what you're talking about so everything is scary. I'm kind of sick of it actually. Progress is progress whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
Roundup is a systemic herbicide, it can't be washed off when used with wetting agents. Superweeds are a big problem, it means the chemical company has u by the balls as you are reliant on their new products to get over the problems the last one created. It was ok when the seed plant breeder rights were owned by farmers/govt input, now its patented by listed stockholders who have been bleeding money to gain market capture. There is also the risk of damaging genes being inserted.
Very astute post, all from the most respected and non biased sources of course.
I would ask what your MO is but I think we all know the answer to that question.
Did you even read any of the links you cunt? You fucking flat earthers are a queer bunch.
A few of them yes, before you bothered to cut and paste them here.
For someone with no ties to farming you sure do have the barnyard language and name calling down to a science, I will give you that much. You will find your prize inside the box of cracker jacks in mums pantry.
Tell us all how dinosaurs and humans roamed the plains together amigo.
Make your faith statement.
You should stop sitting on meat tenderizers.
Oooh, all sciency!
You shills are no better than banksters.
Do you dislike women or vaginas? Possibly some repressed homoerotic feelings might explain your abusive language in defense of poisonous GMO's....No doubt you are morbidly obese and get around in a scooter paid for by Medicaid....
rofl. you cunts are so absurd as to be utterly queer...
Oh good, yet another GMO propaganda post.
YEAH-that's why MONSANTO won't serve GMO-containing food in the employee cafeteria......
That's a lie. Fucking cunt. Are you fucking flat earthers able to tell any truths?
Why don't you just make an utter fool of yourself; you're off to a good start.
I tried to read your post - just a serious question - do you have any farming experience?
yes I do.
Please explain this farming experience to us all then, post haste, since you have "no ties to farming".
You can't have it both ways, or did you mean to post that somewhere else? Perhaps you logged into the wrong account grumpy dwarf?
I said that my current employment has nothing to do with farming. Are ytou fucking retarded? seriously your fucking comprehension of english is almost inhuman.
Fucking cunt...
"I don't tow the popular line here "
Who said that?
Now that I think on it - besides (over) using the word cunt - do you ever have anything useful to say? Your cravenous is getting boring.
everyone's a critic eh? ;) Look, I don't tow the popular line here that science is evil. Just because I understand the science and think that the approach to solving food production issue with GMO is ultimately a good thing makes me enemy number one here. I'll go to my grave not understanding the Lysenkoism that goes for conventional wisdom about GMO. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Y'all would have stoned to death the pioneers of germ thoery. As to my crude language, well, no one on the payroll of BIG BIOTECH would do that eh? I'm a freelance advocate.
Keep downvoting, it's like watching the pile of rocks on Semmelweis's corpse grow.
bendguy tells a fucking lie, made up and I'm the fucking bad guy. You fucking cunts are worse than the fucking arab egyptians who thought melonsd carried Israeli HIV.
I'd rather learn science from fucking pond scum.
Well it sure seems that you could use some learning. Pond scum might be a good start.
Here anther one to add to your list: It cements your argument:
http://www.donabee.com/health/klebsiellaplanticola.htm
Keep putting fossil fuels on the field and that eroei will always put you into the red. Dr. Elaine Ingham -Food soil web. Make your own organic fertilizer for $2/ acre. Get the Rockerfellers and the Rothschilds out of your soil.
You my friend suffer from a glyphosate overdose. When you FOX news is even reporting that glyphosate is cancerous, time to swallow that Monsanto jizz and move on.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/03/23/monsanto-weed-killer-can-probab...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/us-monsanto-roundup-cancer-idU...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/30/glyphosate...
Unfortunately, the big GMO crops (corn, cotton) that are "Roundup Ready" rely upon genetic resistance to the glyphosate herbicide Roundup to survive while the Roundup supposedly kills all competing plants. Two problems have hit the news as late: 1. Competing weeds like Palmer Amaranth (Pigweed) have developed resistance to Roundup so farmers have to increase dosages and add treatments by other herbicides to cope with Roundup resistant weeds; 2. Roundup is implicated by recent studies as a cause of cancer in humans, as well as nerve diseases.
GMO foods and the land in which they are grown have been found to have excessive levels of glyphosate residues.
The studies you cite do not deal with the issue of concentrating the ownership of seeds in corporate hands, nor the contamination of other species with GMO genes. There are reports of farmers who use their own non-GMO seeds finding patented genes from GMOs in their crops, and being subject to lawsuits by patent holders for inadvertant use of patented genes that have contaminated their crops. In Mexico, locals have been successful in a court case that ruled that GMOs threaten to contaminate 6000 years of development of corn species, and barred the GMO giants from planting GMO corn. But the GMO giants are fiercely lobbying Mexican authorities to allow the GMOs to take over the Mexican corn market.
There are also recent reports that the GMO giant companies are trying to take over the African seed markets, to drive out native seeds. The GMO giants have had great success in taking over the farming markets of India, to the detriment of farmers, and resulting in farmers going broke, and many farmers committing suicided. The concentration of ownership of food seeds in corporate hands is of great concern.
GMOs have been touted as the next Green Revolution that will increase food production around the world to cope with increased human population. But the pesticide dependence and patent issues that GMOs bring make them a potential poisoned chalice.
roundup(glyphosate) is a salt, washed away by water. resistance to herbicides over time is to be expected...for any pesticide. The "studies" about glyphosate caused cancer are absurd and have all been debunked. Don't eat too many red m&m's friend! ;) GMO's are the green revolution. We need more. Feeding the world's population ain't going to get any easier anytime soon.
washed "away" Can you point me in the direction of "away?" Sending your uncontroled soil destroying salt onto someone else's property is a dick thing to do.
Do you know what a salt is einstein? FFS you people are fucking ridiculous.
of course we know what a salt is.
If you have a point to make then make it.
Tell us the actual name of ALL the salts that are formed from the application of glyphosate mixtures , and tell us the fate of those cations and anions in solution.
You are avoiding legitimate questions and rejoinders.
If you are not just a troll , then the objections that you might reply to are about the long term effects on soil biology (just post those long-term trial results), and the inadvisability of patenting seeds and reducing seed diversity. There might be an argument about placing control of seeds in the hands of the 1%.
There was also the point about reduced profitability when input costs are raised.
If you're just a troll then post a few more of your ad hominems and straw-man logical fallacies.
Then we can know that it is best to just ignore you.
" Feeding the world's population ain't going to get any easier anytime soon."
Nobody wants to do that , right. If the population outgrows a commodity supply , then the answer is not to try and extract more , is it? Kill the breeding cow, and eat the seed .
Enough food is grown already ; about a third of it is not consumed by humans for one reason or another.
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/rethinking-a-weed-the-truth-about-amaranth
That's a lot of people who are smarter than I am. But if you asked them if roundup bioaccumulates, would they say yes? And if you asked them if cross-pollination from GMO crops reduces biodiversity, surely they would agree. And when a disease comes along that is particularly good at spreading and killing GMOs, will there be anything else to eat?
good points, as well as the ones above about patented seeds. Please tell the fan of GMOs that the banksters own govts, foreign govts wont say no to the biotechs as they rely on the US for military support, universities through funding are compromised and the approval systems are run by the companies themselves. The so called independent peer reviewed studies are conducted by the broke organisations who rely on funding from the govts, plus they have not got the skills to undertake safety studies. The system is broke.
Some of the shit on craigslist is mental.
http://cookeville.craigslist.org/cto/4950680747.html
TAKE UP PAYMENTS I WILL MAKE FIRST 1 FOR YOUChunga: Good one. I am particularly fond of the offers for sale of 24-inch wheels and tires that cost $5,000 or so new and are offered at a "sacrifice" price of $2,500 after the proud owner found he cannot pay his rent. Talk about buyer's remorse.
The very same process they use to put the corn in my gas tank these moron could have made it into booze and the entire world would have bought it from you at 5 times the price.
Exactly my thoughts.
I have a friend who makes shine in Apple Pie and Red Hot Cinnamon flavors that are really delicious.
At 150 proof I just taste them, but he sells every oz. he makes and he's selling by the gallons too. He has a network of truckdrivers that buy in quantities when they pass through.
They call him Skullpop Sam. The guy is making a killing from what started as a hobby. He only works part time at his cattle and meat cutting business because he has to have a legit business to show income.
He just likes making shine.
Do a Google search on Popcorn Sutton. Notorious moonshiner.
After he died someone brought out a line of legal lightening with his name on the jar. I haven't bought any as it would be a sacrilege to pay taxes for that product.
The only things that haven't been in asset bubbles yet are gold and silver.
$50 silver looked to be a bubble.
Buying dick rippers over market price and 2014 f150s eh?
Sometimes it sucks to bet on selling subsidized shit.
The house never loses.
Anything under a full 40 acres is just a hobby farm today. As you go up a bit in size you can live and work on a farm and scratch out a living. Or you could sit in your house and hire out your fields to a guy with fancy planting and harvesting equipment. Or, just sell your farmland and retire to Arizona.
I know plenty of people making a living on less than 40. A fellow just across the border has 5 little acres. He grows lavender and in the middle of all those flowers has bees to help pollinate
the combination of lavender and honey products = he is his own boss
Its not a matter of land size (although that certainly helps). Its a matter of finding a market and taking advantage of it.
I thought Montana was the go: like, dental floss.
The problem is the American farmer has not innovated and invested into more efficient farming techniques that get rid of the use of third party seeds, pesticides and herbicides.
All these GMO Seeds and shit that farmers have to purchase in order to be allowed to plant "food" because of "patents" and all this GMO/Pesticides garbage + the cost of Diesel is going to slaughter any farming operation, also the fact that you have major conglomerate suppliers that drive prices down . . . you simply can not compete unless you are running a state of the art facility producing Genuine NATURAL food from NATURAL un-patended seeds without the use of special fertilizers and pesticides.
Quite frankly, most farming should be done in-doors in controlled environments. . . where humidity can be controlled and ground moisture level is retained, and where you can grow year round despite bad weather/frosts.
Farming just has not kept up as an industry.
"the cost of Diesel is going to slaughter any farming operation"
Not unless people starve to death. higher input costs will drive food prices higher. Everyone got to eat. The issue is that Corn Market was over capacity. A lot of farms saw $6 corn and piled in like feeding frenzy at a "Free" all you can eat buffet. Smart farmers looks at what other farmers "weren't planting" having switched to Corn chasing an imaginary high price.
"Quite frankly, most farming should be done in-doors in controlled environments"
Franky, your an idiot if you think the entire farming industry can grow indoors. Do you believe that Pizza is grown as a crop too?
How much does visquine cost?
Temporary Greenhouses made from visquine can be used to control humidity and soil moisture, aswell as provide some shelter from pests and vermin, as moisture is not lost to the atmosphere.
The frames are brought down at harvest then erected after the plowing and planting of a new crop.
Crop yield should increase and irrigation expense decrease due to a controlled environment.
Drip irrigation and venting to allow for circulation and temperature control can be computerized.
Heaters can be used to heat the air on freezing nights.
Of course this will not happen overnight to all farms.
He did not suggest "the entire farming industry" as you unfairly wrote but declared that MOST farming can be done in this fashion.
I know that some farming is currently done in this fashion, as when I drove through Eastern Oregon back in April, 2013, I saw it with my own eyes. The temperature was 15oF that morning...and crops were growing in the Eastern Oregon High Desert...rows upon rows of visquine greenhouses, under shelter from the freeze.
So some farming in shelters is DEFINITELY POSSIBLE as that is what the EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE demonstrates.
Perhaps it can use a wider application. Perhaps more farms can adopt this technology.
No one is pointing a gun at farmers heads to MAKE them purchase GMO seeds fucknut. Holy fucking shit you people are insane.
...my dad and the uncles had 5 John Deere dealerships, been in the family since the 1920's, 4 of them in county seat towns. starting in 1961 the U.S. govt. started the first of the major farm subsidy programs, ie, the Soil Bank program. farmers were allowed to put entire farms into the program and simply move to town. I was a young kid back then, but i remember the fury of my dad when he talked about it. he maintained it killed the small and middle size farm because from that point on the farm programs basically paid rural america to vacate. at the end of the day they were per bushel subsidies which almost by definition would make the bigger farmers even bigger. and it did. my dad sold his dealership in 1963, then made a good living building and renting office space throughout north dakota to those very U.S. Dept of Agriculture employees administering the unending list of farm programs. the uncles sold the last dealership in 1990.
Oddly, my older brother went on to become Chairman of Cargill, just retired. He is also on the Board of John Deere..........it's almost as if the circle has closed.
THIS AD IS TOTAL BULLSHIT! I farm, and I can tell you in 100% certainty that IF that fucktard actually owns that rusty POS and actually has been using it....it's no wonder he's selling out. lmfao. That piece of equipment pictured in the ad is is worth the price of scrap metal. Period. Whoever this idiot is, is a complete tool...a moron....an idiot.
..and Tylers are stupid enough to reprint it.
Farming is in my blood. Generations of my ancestors were quite successful. I work full time as an IT Manager, and farm for supplemental income on the side. I can't grow enough shiitaki mushrooms. Same with cut flowers where I can yield around 15k on an acre of planted annuals, although thats a ton of work.
I'm sort of tired of articles like these. There is a ton of money to be made in farming if people want it.
Why is anyone knocking Jim Rogers? He's right.
Here is a tip I'm not afrad to give out. Anyone with half a brain should see the demographics in America changing. Central Americans and Muslims are going to out grow us Anglo's quickly.
You want to make money farming?
Boer goats. We transitioned last year and will be market ready next year and focusing on Holiday sales.
America imports most of it from Australia.
Queue Bob Dylan - The times they are a changin. Its the meat consumed mostly around the world
Apply a bit of critical thought, and Corn, Soy, Wheat rotation can be replaced with less equipment overhead and more $$$$$ in your pocket.
Freakscene....where do you live? INterested in the climate and soils.....and any other livestock? I'll be growing milo, wheat, soyibeans, suinflowers and very little corn. Keeping inputs down, grew my own non gmo seed beans, saved my own wheat seed from last year. Sold my 100 head beef cattle herd in 08. Where do you market the goats? ON the hoof? Or do you process?
I live in Pennsylvania
We plan on marketing them on the hoof, no processing. We will charge a small fee to take them to the butcher for the customer, but most of the latino's Ive spoken with want to do that themselves.
No USDA bullshit required since we won't be selling cuts.
We run some chickens for eggs and meat but not retail. Just family and friends.
Here is a good read for you
http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/livestock/goats/meat-goats-pr...
If I I had more land, I'd go with Kikos, or Kiko crosses. Being a very small land holder, I'm starting bees, and will go with heritage turkeys soon.
how about Mini Nubians? Freshen a few each season and you'll have a never ending supply of goats milk
People buy goats milk soap like crazy
Please let me interrupt - i can't believe how much I don' t get it. I live rural area after being raised a city guy - Detroit no less. I actually had to look up mini Nubians because I thought you guys were talking about black people in code. LMAO. God I can't believe how many ways I have left to embarrass myself.
Yet - I still drink.
That was pretty funny Smedley :)
So, freshen a few black people each season...is that what you were thinking? LOL
Yep Kikos are the go. You never have to touch them ; just round them up for sale.
If you can sell them live to certain ethnic groups , you're on a winner.
One CL post demonstrates the bankrupt hopelessness of farming? REALLY?
The Comandments of succesful farming:
1) Thou shalt have NO DEBT. NONE!
2) Thou shalt DIVERSIFY DIVERSIFY DIVERSIFY!
3) Thou shalt ADD VALUE to thy products, so that thou shalt NOT be merely a raw material supplier to the evil corporations.
4) Thou shalt NOT be intimidated by rent-seeking parasites with fancy academic credentials, such as agribusiness sales people, extension agents and foolish neighbors.
5) Thou shalt take responsibility for educating oneself about the things thou produceth.
6) Thou shalt take responsibility for marketing thine own products.
7) Thou shalt NEVER be ashamed of having a threadbare farm or lack of fancy new equipment.Lack of these things is cash in the bank.
8) Thou shalt forge personal relationships with thine customers.
+100
7) Thou shalt NEVER be ashamed of having a threadbare farm or lack of fancy new equipment.Lack of these things is cash in the bank.
Too true.
My first tractor was a 1953 Ford Jubilee. It starts first crank and is still 6v. I can fix it myself without a computer, and it just runs and runs. I have no doubt my 4 year old will use it some day too.
I actually love Craigslist for farm tools because I am mostly buying from retired farmers and getting a deal. That and auctions/estate sales.
The Ford, a 6 ft bush hog, king kutter disks, single bottom plow and a dirt scoop was all of $2,000 and served us really well just starting out.
A buddy recently bought a new compact JD on credit for around $15k. He's taken it to the dealer for "servicing" 3 times in the last year.
Its a nice shiny green though :)
I hate it when people badmouth farming. Especially farmers. It isn't easy money at all, but its a lot easier on my body and brain than corporate/government cubicle rot debt slavery. Most people seem to aspire to complete physical immobility, morbid obesity. Cruising the aisle of costco in their scooter, so they dont have to walk. Weeee-never have to walk again!
You forgot one.
Thou shall not keep cash in the bank.
Farming (for me 1/4 section, 1/2 grain, 1/2 timothy alfalfa), does me ok. I don't get rich and it provides a tax shelter. I think its greatest benefit is that it keeps me honest. Because after repairs in April and May wax your weekends and first cut kills all your golfing time through most of July, then more repairs in August to prepare for harvest and second cut in September, thats when you realize just how fucking hard it is too make an honest dollar. It keeps me frugal throughout the rest of the year and by October I am in excellent shape.
The other benefit (evidenced by grease stained operators manuals), is that you become pretty smart at fixing shit - and the more shit you have the more shit you gotta fix - YOURSELF. I can't count the number of times I have felt empowered, by way of figuring shit out. Even now, after years of growing up on the farm - now doing it myself - myself because no kid wants to help unless you got $30/hr for him. Still, I find myself hurling the odd tool across the yard after leaving knuckle chunks on an idler, sickle section, or PTO guard, or, racing with the bale wagon to get the bales picked up before dark.
Then there's timing the weather forecast, nevermind timing the needles and the plunger. Sometimes I will cut into a forecast as rain dont hurt fresh cut hay too much, but, sometimes that don't work only to get rained on about when I was fixing to rake and bale. I could go on, cause thats the kind of life it is.
Farming, in my opinion, is a way of life. Plain and simple. There is nothing fancy, shiny, or dramatic. Its about handling, treating, and ultimately packaging material for food. Thats it. Thats all it is. But, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Because its one of the last few things you can do anymore where you can emerse yourself in it, knowing that you are really the only one who can fuck it all up.
Some days are really shitty, but, always made up for the days that are really awesome. Nothing more satisfiying than seeing your hay shed chalk full of fresh dried 2nd cut - and the horse guys burying their face in your bales, saying, "god damn thats mighty fine hay." Its when you know you've left a mark - with somebody.
Wouldn't trade the life for nothing.
You still do small squares? That is a crap load of labor, hats off to you.
I remember well in my younger years in high school working for a dairy farmer, and when hay was put up you worked all night hoping to catch two hours before millking time, laying in bed still feeling like you were on the rack bouncing up and down.
Oh fer sure. Gezzzus we worked hard back then. I managed to buy a NH1033 bale wagon for a song to make my reality a little easier. Total game changer in terms of reducing labor. But aint it all labor anyhow? - I mean, with the bale wagon comes its own sets of problems right? Anyway bale size and density become really important which I didn't pay much attention to when hurling by hand. Which means that everything becomes important right from the start - raking, ground speed when baling etc. When things go right, it don't take long to put up 500 by yourself. Thats the thing about farming - seems to be a loner thing. Used to be a family thing. But nobody wants to do it. I reckon its because people don't see the benefit from the effort. Some days - can't say I blame them much.
I do the squares because 1, its what I know (knew), and 2, its what the horse guys like - shit - even the cattle guys on the 2nd cut. I dont know. I round and square bale, but I find round baling has its own set of problems too - that and I find it boring as hell. But thats just me. Others would say the opposite and I reckon they have their reasons too. I love the rythm the baler and tractor will run at when everything goes right - pick up, plunger, and 8 stroke ties - seems like 1650 or so is the majic number on rpm - half the fun is trying to find that "sweet spot". Holy shit. See what happens - you start talking about farming and you get lost in it almost instantly. he he.
love it
I put myself through university in the early seventies picking up hay in the summer. We didn't have wagons; just an elevator on the side of the truck.
In a good long day we could load the truck and unload in the barn 2000 bales. We each (4 of us on the truck) got 1 cent/bale , so that was 20 bucks for a 12-14 hour day.
But the average weekly wage was $60. We were making gold if we got a week of it.
Amen.
TYLER YOU NEED TO TAKE THIS POS ARTICLE DOWN. YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF.
How much in farm welfare entitlements has this farmer collected over the years?
All sadness is directly caused by wanting moar, aka greed. But the ideology says Greed is good. I say it's a bullshit, trap, and lie. For me, the less I want, the better I feel, always. Perhaps that's just me.
Most of the farmers by me are doing ok. Would be doing much better if they all didnt have 10 kids each.
I don't feel very sorry for the ones that complain about being broke, yet put up new barns the size of walmart and get a new F350 every year to get groceries with.
One interesting trend that may help the American farm - windmill power. Out in eastern Oregon, where my uncle farms 2,000 acres, they pay 10K a year to lease farmland for a windmill, and you can still farm around them. Nice to see the money go there instead of Exxon...
I considered a small one but after researching it became quite clear there just isnt enough yearly wind to justify the cost where we live
We went with solar instead
Wind would be great, but you have to live in certain areas for it to make economical sense
We corned some folks!!
WTF? I bought of those brand new here (retail) for less than $1000 2 years ago.
I know many family farms that got fucked royally by the banks and indirectly, the market. These were the small and medium sized dairy and potato farms in New England. The fishermen are getting fucked now as have the loggers. Large corporate interests have purchased dot guv and force them out by way of rulemaking etc., the only farmers I see doing well are fucking horse farmers, and IMHO, they shouldn't get any breaks ubtil automobiles are obsolere and horses are allowed on Interstate highways.
The Fishermen are getting slaughtered by stalking horses posing as renewable companies buying up offshore tracts for wind, when in fact, it is the crony renewable stimulus money they are getting and leveraging MINERAL RIGHTS.
The inland wind comnpanies, (the same folks), are leveraging mineral, development (real estate) and timbers rights. YOU PAID FOR IT. Line losses for most of these projects reneder them moot outside of carbon emissions trading. Larry Summers (DE SHAW) is the founding father of this bullshit and used the IRS (ala Louis Lerner) to go after any competition as well as the farmers (and small utilities) I expounded on earlier.
Moral is a farmer should never grow something that are reflected in futures.
The futures ( commodities et al) are contolled and mnipulated by the bankers.
And with Monsanto & GM controlling these same commodities it gets even worse.
With paper futures the US bankers decide what is a fair price for every commodity across the globe. It is not for this farmer to question the price fluctuations, it is way over his pay grade.
Several points here:
My parents own & operate a 50 acre hay farm in Connecticut and likewise view it as more of a hobby and potential bug out point than a primary source of income. When a three cuttings per year each yielding ~85 x 5' round bales at 40$ each(in a GREAT market) & you aren't getting stiffed by the buyer at the last minute, you know you aren't retiring on that. Its just a hobby and nothing more. They never took any handouts from the government (though I am jealous of the lower property taxes) but that is made up for by the VAST amount of work that goes into cutting and production. Its a fun place to visit several times a year when I go north. They own a number of implements (hayrakes, brush hogs, flail mowers) just like the one being advertised on Craigslist and the price is reasonable. Most of them were bought 2nd hand from other farmers.
Farming is disappearing. Younger people don't want to do it. Its a great idea, but the practical nature of waking up at 4am to take care of the cows doesn't appeal to most. There is a small nich market for farms that produce organic/non GMO food, but unless you have already started then best of luck getting on board that train. Several other farms have identified changes in demand & modernized accordingly. Northern Virginia used to be a mecca for dairy & horse farms but it seems all points west of DC (especially Loudon & Faquier Counties) have turned into vineyards selling wine at $40.00 a bottle and $10 tastings. BIG bucks doing that. I see limos each weekend ferrying 20 & 30 somethings from one drinking hole over to the next. They won't think twice about blowing several hundred dollars a weekend on wine consumption but if you tell them that a local native tomato costs $1.00 more than the Mexican one they shit their pants and tell you to bugger off. Other wineries have gone further to serve as wedding/event venues which can rake in tens of thousands of dollars for a single event (which might last as little as 6 hours) Went to one several months ago and the rehersal dinner was in the barrel room of the winnery. Neat lighting and space, but when I asked how long the wine has been in the barrels for, the server said that there hadn't been wine in the barrels for years, they were just there for asthetics...all wine was brought in from another location. Probably California $5.00/bottle wine with a local markup to the $40.00.
Sad, but that is the nature of the business.
ZeroHedge!
For sale: Used Tractor.
Runs great, only missing Gear selector, seat, and steering wheel.
Perfect for the shiftless bastard, who's lost his ass farming, and does not know which way to turn.
Ask for Glenn.
What the hell is farming? I thought corn came from Walmart?
Here in India, farming is considered a shitty job - always dependent on rain and debt . 90% of the farmers farm on 2 hectares of land or less, so naturally their fortunes vary greatly depending on the conditions each year. Last year there were delayed rains/droughts, as a result many farmers were not able to grow as much as they had planned to. While this year in march, there were sudden unseasonal rains over a large area - and march to April are the harvesting months for the winter crops - so once again a lot of crops which were about to be harvested got ruined. And with the rising cost of farm inputs such as fertilizers etc, the small farmers are always in debt.Plus they actually follow some stupid farming practises like growing water intensive crops like sugarcane,rice in areas where water is scarce - maybe because either politicians oenna lot of sugarcane mills in the area or they see these crops as lucrative - so it is no wonder the water tables keep dippimng every year since they are always digging new borewells to extract what water they can - however even in the fertile, well watered areas , the situation is not that much better , even then at least 90% of farmers are in debtbat any period of time. Hence a lot commit suicide , and I bet the actual rate is much more than the official rate. The cities are often clogged with migrants from the villages since they often seek a better future there - adds to the already significant infrastructural problems we have in then cities . all in all, a shitty situation overall . and given that the government plans to push GMO crops in a big way here( seduced by the hype of monSATAN), it will only conceivably get worse, I believe that a lot of farmer suicides are basically those who grow BT cotton crops here(almost all cotton grown here is BT cotton ).
I guess you are familiar with the suicide belt in India where farmers kill themselves because they go into strangulation contracts with biotech companies that sell them very expensive seeds and the herbicides and pesticides that go with them. The then crop does deliver the yields it promises, drought and flash rains occur and crops fail. Farmer left in huge debt and sees no other way out then drinking the herbicides and pesticides that biotech sells him. Thousands have killed themselves this way.
The problem with farming in India is they cannot do it on a large enough scale to have enough gross income to support themselves.
That's why there are no farmers in India then .
WTF?
On the contrary, 70% of the population here still lives in the villages. There is a lot of farmers, more out of compulsion than by choice.
Sorry , that was irony.
The much bigger issue is that the farmers here are always in some kind of a perrenial debt trap, especially if they are substitence farmers. A lot of them are basically tenant farmers working on the bigger farms. Most of the debt is informal due to the lack of banking penetration in the rural areas, often the rates are like 15-30%, not quite sure about that. But the village money lender castes do very well generally by this sort of usurious lending. As a result of the so called green revolution here in the 70s, they have grown too dependent on fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides which even when sold at subsidised prices are expensive. Plus they always get a raw deal at point of sale, the middle men buy up their produce cheap and then get to sell the same at a higher price.
Wake up, deal with reality. Ain't no biotech bugaboo causing suicides. Quit regurgitating stupid shit you hear from insane people.
sources, for this BS
THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The insectcide is being produced in the plant. So allthough its not being applied by a sprayrig, production of it occurs non stop and is still in the envt. The reduction in insecticde used really is a misconception. Have u seen how much is produced by the plant over its lifetime? way more than was applied previously. What is relevant is the toxicity of the chemical and its effect on the envt, which can only be determined through longterm trials into chronic illnesses.
I once sold a quarter section to a nice fellow from India. As I drove him across the bare farm, he was astounded , trying to comprehend the size and asked me to explain the 160 acre measuement. I said it was 160 rods by 160 rods which equaled 160 acres. His eyes lit up and said he knew what a rod was...He sold ten "roods" of his family farm in India to a develpoer to build an apartment building and was planning to buy my 160 rods with some of the money.
He didn't say how much he got for his land (a rood is a quarter acre) but I sold him the 160 acres for $2700 per acre.
I can already hear the guys from the mid west pulling their calculators out from here.
That was in 2008...growing houses in India must be a good paying crop?
If you have any farmland positioned along desirable tracts like near the expanding suburbs of a city, near a major highway being developed, then yes, you can sell off that farmland for a very nice amount to the real estate developers, who themselves buy the land for speculation/investment purposes. There is a crazy housing bubble in extant across India although it has been showing signs of cooling of late. I would say that guy got a good deal getting much more farmland over there in the states, although even the farmland has gotten insanely expensive to buy here, especially if it is in a fertile,well watered area.
I was being a little facetious about "houses being the best crop to grow in India"...it is an old joke over here. Enormous amounts of farmland have houses built on it world wide, because of economics, supply and demand.
I read enough during the winter months and understand this man's land sale was not the average farmland price in India. He said he was on the edge of the city. Another old saying about the three rules in real estate...location, location, and location.
The bi-line...the older man who I really liked, wanted to grow pulses to help feed the world. His son rolled his eyes at the thought. The son looked urbanized and the old man looked like a farmer. Three years later and the old man died, and the son sold out soon after.
If farmers can hang on through the deflation, better times are coming according to Thomas Carlyle:
Higher than all Frenchmen the domestic Stock-jobber flourishes,—in a day of Paper-money. The Farmer also flourishes: 'Farmers' houses,' says Mercier, 'have become like Pawn-brokers' shops;' all manner of furniture, apparel, vessels of gold and silver accumulate themselves there: bread is precious. The Farmer's rent is Paper-money, and he alone of men has bread: Farmer is better than Landlord, and will himself become Landlord.
How much for the tractor? How much for the little girl? How much for the little girls? Sell me your children.
Belushi was great...
We need rain otherwise fuck it. We are a dustbowl in the upper Midwest.
How are the dairy farmers up there doing?
I guess you saw what happened on the GDT auction the other night. Dairy prices down 10.8%. WMP down the most.
After they go bust scoop the property from the bank then plant solar panels and wind turbines.
This is where the old timers start sniffing around for bargains. Ever wonder how they accumulate their 1000s of acres? Cyclically.
And then sit back and watch the real subsidies come in. Subsidies And capitalism are opposite ends of a political system
Farmers and their lobbyists make GS look like schoolboys. Farmers have the whining and complaining game down like no other pig at the public trough. "Oh, if we don't have multi billion dollar subsidies how will we grow food? Who is against food?'
Then they force fucking ethanol on the world, at a huge cost in lives, maybe millions, of starving kids who can no longer afford grains.
Not to mention how it ruins the rubber and seals on most engines, another massive, hidden cost forced upon the sheeple.
Corn goes from $2 to $6 and this asshole is complaining, makes a bad investment, which he stores outside as his 'expensive toys' are stored inside.
They are just rubbing your faces in it and you eat it up with a grin! SHEEPLE!
At least the banksters pay back some of the money they steal from taxpayers, farmers don't, they demand more!
I guess the reason farmers get an easy ride on zh is that it sounds like a majority here are farmers, big surprise.
Good job though guys, divert attention from the real thieves to the big bad wall streeters. Gotta hand it to ya. You may be colossal thieves and hypocrites, but you're sneaky bastards too. Well done.
RU4 real?
Nobody else is subsidised in the US?
Sewers don't pour into rivers and oceans? In a totally fraudulent economic system , it would make sense to ensure that some food is being produced wouldn't it?
Let me guess: you're totally self-sufficient.
Before you go off ,I 'm in NZ where there are no subsidies for agriculture.
Perfect example of what I'm talking about!
'Nobody else is subsidized' -so subsidies are moral because someone else also gets them. So we should subsidize everything I guess? Where's mine, by the way, as I don't get any subsidies and in fact have been paying to support useless farmers (and all the other pigs at the trough) my entire life.
'it would make sense to ensure some food is being produced' -fucking right, as food production would go to zero immediately without subsidies. Are YOU for real?
'let me guess: you're totally self sufficient'-um, well I pay more than my share and alsways have. Have never received a dime from government, but have paid hundreds of thousands in taxes. Never needed a cop or a court even, and paid my own way through school.
But yes, I do buy food, sometimes from the supermarket, sometimes from local farmer's markets. Guess that means I can't complain about subsidies huh? I mean, a man's gotta eat, so we gotta subsidize farmers, who could argue with that?
Most people have to use electricity, guess we have to subsidize that. Water, subsidize. School, subsidize. Drive a car, hell subsidize! Who wants to walk. Everyone needs a home to live in, subsidize! Yup, subsidies are the answer to it all. And if there isn't enough money to subsidize everything we can just print more. Woo hoo! Krugmanites rejoice!
"so subsidies are moral "
I didn't say that. It looks like we agree. When the poor are subsidising the 1%, then why not let the farmers have some subsidy too , if it means that you get to eat.
The whole system is immoral. So you should refuse to eat? Obviously not.
Like I said I don't get any subsidies: but if I was "poor' I would . It's a welfare state here too.
I didn't understand why you were so down on U.S. farmers: I still don't.
"At least the banksters pay back some of the money they steal from taxpayers,". Hihihi. Oh, you were serious.
What they "pay back" is nothing in comparison with what they take. With interest. Cause they are lending the very same money to the government that bails them out and gov (you and I) needs to pay that back. With interest. How fucked up is that?
heee heee, at farmers only . com
You have the numbers backwards. Corn has gone from $8 to $3.50.
I probably costs $500 an acre in out of pocket costs to plant an acre, without land costs.
If yield is 200 bpa then the net is $200 an acre at today's price and and relatively good weather.
How many acres do you have to own to make enough net cash to pay the bills if self employed?
the x-farmers that i know (work at my place)
are very wealthy
i don't feel sorry for any of them
He sounds like a terrorist.
he'll be droned.
Farmers are underapprecieted really. Wake up early and work in shitty weather in the dirt producing food for ungrateful city bastards. If farmers collectively would decide to stop bringing food to the market you'd be having chaos and revolutions on your hand in no time.
I will look again when he's sellingthe whole farm for $8900.
One of the best discussions ever .... kudos to all .... just stop bullying Bumbu Sauce .... and Fonestar .... and MDB ! Bully me .... I can take it .... because my foundation .... is a rock solid belief in Capitalism .... the last frontier !
Just so you know I get a subsidy. I call them Barack dollars. I get them via the rural broadband program. Aka my fellow debt serfs pay for my discounted satellite Internet. You get food and I get lousy Internet. Seems like a fair trade.
On the other hand, I would be pay full fare, but when the guy from the government showed up with free money who was I to say no?
It used to by hard to get on the dole, but now they hand the money out like candy. Well actually candy is harder to get so maybe that saying is out of date.
I have gotten lots of my associates signed up for the dole. Many had given up because it was too hard and/or demeaning. But now that BO has made the dole a right and made the application process pain free I have been able to get lots of people on it.
My goal is to push the system over the edge so we can more quickly get to the new system which I hope is better.
In the mean time, are you doing your part to break the current system?
Wow! Interesting to read so many thoughts and experiences about farming! Yikes! All this information and all these experiences make me feel like a complete ignoramous when it comes to farming! Well, except I already knew Monsanto is evil incarnate.
But I find this interesting, even fascinating, feeling like such an ignoramous about farming. Why? Because I grow all my own food. Of course, that doesn't make me a farmer, because I don't sell the food I consume, I eat it. All of it, except a small portion that gets recycled into new batches.
So I really don't have anything to add, except... to note how different growing and raising food is depending on whether you're just feeding yourself or a few, versus trying to feed thousands of people. The whole approach changes. The equipment changes (I do not have or need any heavy equipment).
Obviously the different approaches tend to push farmers closer to monoculture rather than my "growing every kind of food I eat" approach. They obviously spend a boatload more time than I do... I spend less than 10 hours a week now, on average, though it was more like 20 to 25 hours until I more-or-less figured out what I am doing (I had very little experience growing or raising anything before setting up my self-sufficient digs 3 years ago).
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Disclaimer: I do still buy a few herbs and spices that I haven't figured out how to grow effectively... yet. But I should be there in a year or three, and I don't need them to live, just to have a more diverse variety of flavors.
Cheap food is not for you look away while I eat. I do not want your hungery little faces ruining the dinner
Well, this is what happens when the gov't meddles in markets. Those grim meathook realities are hidden behind a thin veil. When our overlords feel like pulling that lever or pushing that one, or turning this here knob, all hell breaks loose. Sorry Mr. Farmer, you're yet another victim of Big Brother.
Did the amount of corn grown in the US increase with the ethanol boom? what changes in crops/varieites would have occurred around this time? Was GM corn in much use prior to it?
Not to worry. The pigs in washington will just run up the credit card another few billion to buy more votes. Maybe a strategic stockpile of farmer debt is the cure.
This entire article lacks credability. A simple piece of fiction to illustrate a point of view. If it was ever on Craiglist it was put there by the journalist. Besides the "farmer" could move on to writing purple prose romance novels....
Is it a GM model?
Corzine can afford to buy it.
The banksters need to repay us.
Looks like a whiny bitch lost his money in government subsidized corn for ethanol in gas which was stupid in the first place. (A product of Dole forcing special interests on the rest of the country I might add) ESAD whiny bitch. Next time try working in a non subsidized industry, if you can find one.
The real lesson in the story is this: Do not depend on government programs or mandates for the economics of your business. Those who trusted government and jumped onto the ethanol bandwagon in defiance of both economics and morality are getting what they deserve.
On my first day as President I will submit bills via allied Congressmen to abolish most of the Agriculture Department, Commerce Department, HHS, Energy, and all of the Education Department. Meanwhile by executive order I will cancel a whole slew of wasteful, counter-productive programs such as the infuriatingly stupid and condesencing Public Service Announcements that pollute the radio media and institute an absolute hiring freeze across the entire federal government.
I will also take no vacations anywhere but Camp David and my own home.