| Liz *** |
Sorry Greg, the farmer is not getting the money. Just looked in the
regional farm newspaper ( Capital Press based in Oregon) and the dairy
farmers are getting $1.15 to $1.25 a gallon. There used to be 20 dairy
farmers in Snohomish County just north of Seattle, now there are 2. Why?
farming is no longer profitable, kids are no longer following in their
parents foot steps. The average age of the family farmer is nearing
retirement age.Those kids that want to farm can no longer afford the
land. Too many environmental laws and urban sprawl are taking care of
that. Unless you have been there , most people do not know that farming
,especially dairy farming can be pretty smelly. City slickers move to
the country and then complain that their neighbors are causing odors or
creating air pollution. Or just inconvenience the city slicker. Well
farming is a 24/7 business. lots of hard work and in many cases now
either the husband or the wife of a farm family work off the land to
help support the farm. Taxes are unbearable, the local government would
like you to divide your land up into 5 acre plots so some one can build
a huge house on it and they can get the revenue, so they tax you like
you have already done so. Locally 10 acres of land sells for $200,000
or more. So, support your local farmer if you can, tell your grocer you
would like local produce. If you would like in depth news of what it is
like to farm in the real world subscribe to the Capital Press or your
local farm newspaper and find out where your food really comes from.
Well, it is time to get down off my soap box, the hubby is sleeping in
this morning. We normally get up at 4AM and yes, he is the one who works
off of our small farm. During the summer he gets home at 3:00PM and puts
in another 5 hours of work. But today we will go to our local hometown
country fair and see what our neighbors kids are doing in 4H and FFA and
enjoy what rural living all about. Then we are off to the stock dog
trials to see real working dogs in action. Nothing is more awesome than
seeing a border collie working a herd of sheep. liz
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| Gregory Morrow |
Liz *** wrote:
> Sorry Greg, the farmer is not getting the money. Just looked in the
> regional farm newspaper ( Capital Press based in Oregon) and the dairy
> farmers are getting $1.15 to $1.25 a gallon. There used to be 20 dairy
> farmers in Snohomish County just north of Seattle, now there are 2. Why?
> farming is no longer profitable, kids are no longer following in their
> parents foot steps. The average age of the family farmer is nearing
> retirement age.Those kids that want to farm can no longer afford the
> land. Too many environmental laws and urban sprawl are taking care of
> that. Unless you have been there , most people do not know that farming
> ,especially dairy farming can be pretty smelly. City slickers move to
> the country and then complain that their neighbors are causing odors or
> creating air pollution. Or just inconvenience the city slicker. Well
> farming is a 24/7 business. lots of hard work and in many cases now
> either the husband or the wife of a farm family work off the land to
> help support the farm. Taxes are unbearable, the local government would
> like you to divide your land up into 5 acre plots so some one can build
> a huge house on it and they can get the revenue, so they tax you like
> you have already done so. Locally 10 acres of land sells for $200,000
> or more. So, support your local farmer if you can, tell your grocer you
> would like local produce. If you would like in depth news of what it is
> like to farm in the real world subscribe to the Capital Press or your
> local farm newspaper and find out where your food really comes from.
I agree with all your points. I come from Western Illinois, where farmers
have taken a real beating in the last 20 or so years (in fact my dad had to
give up the farm in *1959*, working at J I Case or other farm implement
makers offered a better way of life for us; at one time our prosperous
extended family seemingly owned half the county...now there are not any
Morrow farmers left in the county..it's the same with other formerly
"prominent" families....). Used to be a lot of smaller farms that could
support a family, it's not so today. The area where I grew up is now fairly
poor and the population is declining. Young folks cannot afford to go into
farming (unless the family is rich). The middleman is making the money, not
the farmers for the most part....
Dairy farming was such a financial black hole that in the past year of so a
lot of dairy farmers simply gave up in protest, which is why milk and cheese
and such is so sky - high in price...
Adjusted for inflation, farmers in some cases are getting *less* per bushel
or acre or gallon or whatever than they were in the Depression.....
It is a sad reflection on rural life, but it's part of an overall greater
pattern in rural America - unless you are relatively well - connected you
just can't make a decent living (BUT WAIT! - that's true of the US in
general now, isn't it...!!!???)
> Well, it is time to get down off my soap box, the hubby is sleeping in
> this morning. We normally get up at 4AM and yes, he is the one who works
> off of our small farm. During the summer he gets home at 3:00PM and puts
> in another 5 hours of work. But today we will go to our local hometown
> country fair and see what our neighbors kids are doing in 4H and FFA and
> enjoy what rural living all about. Then we are off to the stock dog
> trials to see real working dogs in action. Nothing is more awesome than
> seeing a border collie working a herd of sheep. liz
County fairs are fun. And yeah, farming is HARD, HARD and backbreaking
work. How many times did the sows decide to give birth on a bitter cold New
Year's Eve when we just wanted ONE night to celebrate...Oy!
--
Best
Greg
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| Larry Smith |
Liz *** wrote:
> Those kids that want to farm can no longer afford the land.
The inheritance taxes are primarily responsible for
ending family businesses like dairy farms. Since most
dairy farms are worth much more broken up into building
lots than they are as farms their land value rises into
the stratosphere. When they exceed the death-tax level,
which most of them already have, then a huge sum is due
and payable to the gov't when Mom and Dad kick off. That
sum is so large that no one I've heard of wishing to con-
tinue to farm was able to afford it, and one-by-one the
family farms are busted up and sold for building lots,
as inevitable as gravity, in order to pay the gov't for
the privilege of dying.
But, hey, when you're out to soak the rich you need to
expect some collateral damage. Perhaps it would be a
nicer world if the Democrats could stop to think who
the "rich" they target really are and how little money
they may actually have. They are so busy trying to
screw Bill Gates and Donald Trump they no longer even
think about who else they might be trampling in the
process.
--
..-. .-. .---. .---. .-..-.|Experts in Linux/Unix: www.WildOpenSource.com
| |__ / | \| |-< | |-< > / |"Making the bazaar more commonplace"
`----'`-^-'`-'`-'`-'`-' `-' |Check out my new novel: "Cloud Realm" at:
home:www.smith-house.org:8000|http://www.smith-house.org:8000/books/list.html
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| sf |
On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 19:12:24 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
<gregorymorrowTHEKISSINGBANDIT@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> I agree with all your points. I come from Western Illinois, where farmers
> have taken a real beating in the last 20 or so years (in fact my dad had to
> give up the farm in *1959*, working at J I Case or other farm implement
> makers offered a better way of life for us; at one time our prosperous
> extended family seemingly owned half the county...now there are not any
> Morrow farmers left in the county..it's the same with other formerly
> "prominent" families....).
This is the age of Agri-business. Farmers who aren't
struggling are usually "gentleman" farmers.
sf
Practice safe eating - always use condiments
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| sf |
On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 18:30:41 -0400, Larry Smith
<larry@wildopensource.com> wrote:
> But, hey, when you're out to soak the rich you need to
> expect some collateral damage. Perhaps it would be a
> nicer world if the Democrats could stop to think who
> the "rich" they target really are and how little money
> they may actually have. They are so busy trying to
> screw Bill Gates and Donald Trump they no longer even
> think about who else they might be trampling
Can you get those blinders on just a little tighter?
sf
Practice safe eating - always use condiments
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