End Farm Subsidies
- Thread starter wkmac
- Start date
trplnkl
555
A farmer in West Texas that owns and farms a section (640 acres) or less needs help in some fashion to make a living. I'm not saying the help has to come in the form of a check just because they farm though. With the regulations imposed in respect to what they have to do when raising a crop of cotton and then forcing them to compete with foreign countries in the market place puts American farmers at a huge disadvantage. Just the cost(highly inflated due to EPS regulations) of the herbicides they use lowers their income percentage drastically. Add that to a couple of years of drought and you have smallish family farms in bankruptcy.
klein
Für Meno :)
I agree with trinkle, the US has 1 of the lowest minimum wages in the western nationalized countries.
You need to subsidize farms, so the poor people can still buy the basics, like bread, milk and meats.
Could you imagine US citizens paying over $4.00 a gallon of milk, or over $2.00lb chicken, like we do ?
Nope.
Subsidize it and live cheap, China pays for it !
You need to subsidize farms, so the poor people can still buy the basics, like bread, milk and meats.
Could you imagine US citizens paying over $4.00 a gallon of milk, or over $2.00lb chicken, like we do ?
Nope.
Subsidize it and live cheap, China pays for it !
trplnkl
555
I agree with trinkle, the US has 1 of the lowest minimum wages in the western nationalized countries.
You need to subsidize farms, so the poor people can still buy the basics, like bread, milk and meats.
Could you imagine US citizens paying over $4.00 a gallon of milk, or over $2.00lb chicken, like we do ?
Nope.
Subsidize it and live cheap, China pays for it !
Klein, I respectfully request you refrain from addressing me as trinkle, the name is trplnkl , or feel free to use just trpl or 555 if you like. Thank you.
menotyou
bella amicizia
I will tiptoe into this thread. The farmers around me all have brand new trucks with commercial plates that they don't pay taxes on. My volvo has more mud on it that any of those trucks. Why are they allowed to say its a farm truck and not pay taxes, if it never goes into the field? They repaint rust buckets in the yard so they can re-evaluate the value and write it off, again, for the 20th year. In the meantime, that rust bucket has been replace 20x over with brand new top of the line John Deeres. Gorgeous machines. I wish I wasn't paying for it. their land is taxes at a much lower rate than mine. I don't grow corn that is subsidized on my higher taxed land. So, he not only gets a tax break because he is a farmer, but he get's paid to grow corn that he can turn around and sell for $5 a bushel because of this ethanol requirement. A requirement that makes me pay more for gas. Not the farmer. He has a tank on the farm with tax free gas he can put in his tax free brand new truck that never goes into the field. And, these farmers? They came from Connecticut. They were made millionaires from the big dig buyout. Don't feel any pity for these guys. They feel none for you.
It may be different in other parts of the country, but that's how it is here in Ellisburg.
It may be different in other parts of the country, but that's how it is here in Ellisburg.
trplnkl
555
I'm sure the abuse and manipulation of the system is rampant in all areas of the country. This type of stuff is what makes it hard to justify helpping a farmer that actually needs help because of government intervention. I can not address the tax value of land where you live but I do know that the tax evaluation here for an acre of land is assessed at the same value regardless of it's use. That is not to say that land being used as farm land doesn't get an exemption from some of the actually taxes posed by the state, county or school districts because they do. I've personally seen farmers abuse and take unfair advantages of subsidy programs, I have also seen small family farms go bankrupt due to weather extremes or just consecutive "bad years", even having the subsidies didn't help. BTW, I am not a farmer, nor is anyone else in my family. I did own a few acres in the country and could have claimed farm exemptions if I used part of that land for growing some kind of crop or raising stock for commercial purposes. I didn't do that for several reasons, mainly because I didn't feel right about it. I wasn't a farmer trying to make a living on my land.
No, dont pity the farmer, they made the choice to do that for a living but keep in mind that if the local farmers fail in your area the local economy also suffers, it's a circle thing.
cachsux
Wah
Being surrounded by farms we`ve come to know a few and a recurring theme was that if a fair (at the time of conversation) price was paid per bushel then many farmers would be able to turn enough of a profit to sustain their farms. As cheap as a $.05 per loaf of bread that actually made it back to them would solve a lot of hardships.
trplnkl
555
The overwhelming majority of farmers within a hundred miles of my town are cotton farmers but the principle is still the same. If they do not make a profit, they can not stay in business.
The numbers of the true family farms are dwindling rapidly, mainly because making a living on small acreage farms just is too hard to do year after year, plus so many of the current farmer's children are not going into the family business of farming for that very reason. Those lands often end up sold to or leased by corporate farms, which increases the subsidies paid to the corporations. Another vicious cycle.
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cachsux
Wah
Something that comes into play by me are the soybean crops which are alternated with the corn from year to year. In a nutshell Monsanto owns copyrights to its seed and farmers are not allowed to use any other than theirs once they enter into the agreement, may not save seed, etc. Its really unbelievable, well actually not in todays world.
"Since the mid-1990s, it has sued 145 individual US farmers for patent infringement in connection with its genetically engineered seed.[SUP][59][/SUP] The usual claim involves violation of a technology agreement that prohibits farmers from saving seed from one season's crop to plant the next, a common farming practice.[SUP][60][/SUP] One farmer received an eight-month prison sentence for violating a court order to destroy seeds,[SUP][61][/SUP] in addition to having to pay damages, when a Monsanto case turned into a criminal prosecution"
"Since the mid-1990s, it has sued 145 individual US farmers for patent infringement in connection with its genetically engineered seed.[SUP][59][/SUP] The usual claim involves violation of a technology agreement that prohibits farmers from saving seed from one season's crop to plant the next, a common farming practice.[SUP][60][/SUP] One farmer received an eight-month prison sentence for violating a court order to destroy seeds,[SUP][61][/SUP] in addition to having to pay damages, when a Monsanto case turned into a criminal prosecution"
rod
Retired 22 years
Its the same way where I live. I never delivered to a farmer who said he was having a "great year". It was ALWAYS "oh woe is me" --yet they were driving a new top of the line pickup and talked about how they wished it would snow so they could get out on their new snowmobiles. Very very few of them lived in the "old homestead" ---they for the most part had nicer homes than the city dwellers. I came to the conclusion years ago that life on the farm wasn't the "hardship" it was presented to be. P.S. My wife grew up on a farm and alot of the her relitives still live on one so I do have a somewhat first hand view of the situation. If you need to see the newest and best pickups of the current year all I have to do is attend one of the family gatherings. (and yes they also do the "oh woe is me " routine.
menotyou
bella amicizia
Yes, but when I do it, it is on my dime.
trplnkl
555
The way I have always thought of the new farm truck each year is there is another old truck being retired because it's falling apart. Most farms around here (from mid sized to larger size) have several pick ups that they use in/around the fields daily. Some are driven by hired hands or the younger members of the family to work out of. Each year one of those trucks is retired and a new truck takes it's spot in the line up with last years "new truck" going into the line up. Most of the farmers I know use their new truck to haul parts, seed, fertilizer and tools to where ever they are needed. But when the next year rolls around, the process starts again.
I also know farmers that abuse the tax laws. One I know was told by his accountant that he needed to spend some money from his farm account or face heavy taxes. He then had a new barn built next to his house to house tractors and other equipment. The only tractor ever kept in the barn was a restored 194something John Deere that would never see a field again. I'm sure the restoration was funded through the farm account as well. I had heard that this same farmer intentionally planted bad seed so when didn't start to grown by a certain date, he could collect the insurance. Saved from having to pay to water that part of the farm that year.
Just like any government subside, there are cheats and there are people that would go belly up with out the help.
I also know farmers that abuse the tax laws. One I know was told by his accountant that he needed to spend some money from his farm account or face heavy taxes. He then had a new barn built next to his house to house tractors and other equipment. The only tractor ever kept in the barn was a restored 194something John Deere that would never see a field again. I'm sure the restoration was funded through the farm account as well. I had heard that this same farmer intentionally planted bad seed so when didn't start to grown by a certain date, he could collect the insurance. Saved from having to pay to water that part of the farm that year.
Just like any government subside, there are cheats and there are people that would go belly up with out the help.
texan
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately the trend is an increase in the average age of the American farmer, currently 57 years old.
Young people just do not want to peform farm work anymore in this country, as in the past. It's been decades since the
American heartland has been a money pump and longer since farming was a major source of employment.
Old rural towns have emptied as families — and the U.S. — have moved on. Technology, service jobs and finance have been
the basis of the economy.
since at least the 1980s.
Young people just do not want to peform farm work anymore in this country, as in the past. It's been decades since the
American heartland has been a money pump and longer since farming was a major source of employment.
Old rural towns have emptied as families — and the U.S. — have moved on. Technology, service jobs and finance have been
the basis of the economy.
since at least the 1980s.
trplnkl
555
While that is true Texan, there is several reasons for the decline of families in rural communities. One is a small framer has hard enough time making himself a living with out trying to allow his son make a living off the same farm in preparation of taking it over when the old man retires or dies. So the son goes off to college, gets a degree and begons to earn a living outside of the family farm. When it is time to make the change the son has no interest in working so hard for so little at a career that relies on the weather for success.
Another reason for the dwindling rural towns is the de-localizing of support businesses such as farm stores, local owned grocers and many others. It's sad to watch a small town wither and die.
av8torntn
Well-Known Member
How'd you find that? (real question as I am actually sitting here with my mouth open)
av8torntn
Well-Known Member
Why would someone go into farming when the government will pay you to not farm?
