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....Many
remember the years when farming was a way of life. When you
grew all your own food...eggs, pork, beef, poultry, gardens full of
bountiful vegetables.
Tractors
didn't cost as much or more as a new home. You didn't have to
plant thousands of acres to make a living.
Those
days are gone. Gone forever we're afraid. Along with
those days, the Family Farm is disappearing.
What
once was an occupation thought to be unskilled by many, (even though
it wasn't), has become a very technical job.
Today's
American Farmer must know marketing strategies, environmental laws,
be a mechanic, electrician, accountant, among many other things.
Why
is the Family Farm disappearing? Many farmers feel this is in the
plans either by the government or by big corporations. If they
run most of the farmers off of the farms, big corporations can take
control of agriculture completely, thereby eventually being
able to set their own price for agriculture products.
Some
feel oil companies want control of grain farms, so they can control
the price for ethanol and soy diesel fuels, which can be replenished
and are more environmentally safe. Today, while Family Farms
still exist, these fuels are not being mass produced in our
country. This would greatly aid the farmer if this could
happen, as it would increase the price of our products and enable us
to continue our heritage. It would also decrease our dependency
on other countries for fossil fuels.
Today's
prices are driving farmers out of business. A bushel of
soybeans on today's market (10/18/99), will reap $4.56 per bushel and
a bushel of corn will bring in $1.73. These prices are well
below the cost of production. In 1972, when we first started
farming, prices were only a little below these. What occupation
do you know of that still receives the same wages received in 1972?
Combines,
(for those of you that don't know what this is...is the equipment
used to harvest crops), cost over $120,000.00. New tractors can
cost as much and sometimes even more than a combine.
How
many products sold in the world today has someone else setting the
price the producer receives for it? A farmer can not say I want
$2.50 per bushel for corn, as that is what it cost me to raise
it. Someone else sets a price, and there's nothing a farmer can
do about it. Someone else controls their destiny. No
matter how hard they work, someone else controls the life of a farmer.
Farming
is not an easy job. Fighting the weather is a constant
situation. Either it's too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot, too
windy, not windy enough. Every aspect of the weather affects
farming. Fields can be destroyed by grasshoppers or red spider
mites. Weeds can become out of control and drastically reduce yields.
Farming
is a HUGE gamble and even if farmers work as hard as they can,
are as honest as they can be, their lives are controlled by
others. Their livelihood is in jeopardy constantly.
Farming
is a 'labor of love' for most farmers. Why else would
they be doing this for the prices they are getting in today's market?
Some
day soon, it will be too late to save the Family Farm.
Wake
up America!! The Family Farm is about to go. When this
does happen, big corporations will ask whatever price they need for
crops to make a profit. This, in turn, will increase your
cost at the grocery store tremendously. By then it will be too
late. The Family Farm will have disappeared forever.
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