Heretical Conservatism: Old McDonald is a Welfare Queen...
- Protecting the continuation of the family farm.
91% of family farms are responsible for 27% of the US total agriculture output. Because corporate farms, which only makes up 2% of all farms) produce 14% of the output, only 9% of family farms are doing the job well enough to put out 59% of the product. From a cost/benefit perspective, 91% of the family farms aren’t really that good. Why save them?
We do our damnedest to try, though. In addition to huge tax deductions, farmers are subsidized, given grants, loans that don’t have to be paid back if the harvest is worse than expected and price-fixing...uh, I mean…price SUPPORTS..
Growing up in a community where the economy was mostly Ag-based, the wealthiest people I knew were farmers. The fact that Farmer Bob is driving a new truck every year at the expense of my 6-year-old-car-driving, tax-paying ass just doesn’t elicit much sympathy from me.
While I’m spending more than ever on groceries, the Federal Government is passing a bill which provides Farmer Bob, and those like him, $300 billion in price supports and subsidies. Bob will qualify for these subsidies as long as his income is not over $750,000.
Lest you think that is a typo, let me repeat…Bob qualifies for subsidies as long as his income is not over three-quarters of a million dollars.
My dad is in the car business for a US automaker. With the economy down and foreign cars kicking the US ass, Dad’s job and finances are lacking some of the security he previously enjoyed. Where the hell are Willie Nelson and John Mellancamp when Dad needs them?
I have a buddy whose family has had a hardware store for 50 or 60 years. His grandfather made a good living with that store for many years and his uncle did very well with it for most of his career. My buddy grew up thinking he would take over. But since Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart and Target have opened stores in town, any dreams of being the hardware go-to guy have been vanquished. Further, the uncle is just struggling to stay afloat until he can retire and sell the place (at a tremendous loss, no doubt). So far, the federal government hasn’t passed a multi-billion dollar “Family Hardware Store Act”. So why is the farmer’s kid held in higher esteem than the hardware store kid?
There’s a romanticized view of the noble family farmer It’s not just that the farmer keeps us fed but it is one of the last vestiges of the “traditionalist” family unit. I addressed this briefly in March 2006 when I was reviewing that horrible Rod Dreher book:
“Prior to, let’s say, the 40’s… a monastic family existence (especially in rural locales) was the norm out of necessity. In the absence of 401Ks, Social Security, Kroger and a Waffle House on every corner, having a large family was a selfish act of self- preservation (not to mention the result of inadequate contraception), It was not due to some altruistic pursuit of the “Permanent Things.”
You had kids to help you plant and harvest the crops. After they were grown, you gave them a plot of land across the creek so that they could continue helping you out with the farm and, once you’re old and debilitated, give them the farm and they, in turn, would keep you fed until you shuffled off the mortal coil. They would do the same with their kids. The circle of life goes on. (Cue Elton John)”
The family farm is no longer necessary to feed the country. Corporate farming and, evidently 9% of "family farms" has developed a very efficient method of keeping the grocery store shelves stocked. If you WANT to make your living from being a farmer but you don’t want to answer to a boss, by all means, be your own farmer. I hope you make a million bucks doing so. With the price of food today, you just might. Just don’t expect the government (and, by extension, ME) to bail you out if you can’t make a go of it.
Screw the family farm…I’m tired of protecting them. This is not 1935 and America is not the rural, agrarian country that it once was. With the advent of cars, interstates, airplanes, public schools, etc., there’s a world of options for farmer’s kids to make a living if farming doesn’t work out for them. THIS is one area that is in serious need of reform.
91% of family farms are responsible for 27% of the US total agriculture output. Because corporate farms, which only makes up 2% of all farms) produce 14% of the output, only 9% of family farms are doing the job well enough to put out 59% of the product. From a cost/benefit perspective, 91% of the family farms aren’t really that good. Why save them?
We do our damnedest to try, though. In addition to huge tax deductions, farmers are subsidized, given grants, loans that don’t have to be paid back if the harvest is worse than expected and price-fixing...uh, I mean…price SUPPORTS..
Growing up in a community where the economy was mostly Ag-based, the wealthiest people I knew were farmers. The fact that Farmer Bob is driving a new truck every year at the expense of my 6-year-old-car-driving, tax-paying ass just doesn’t elicit much sympathy from me.
While I’m spending more than ever on groceries, the Federal Government is passing a bill which provides Farmer Bob, and those like him, $300 billion in price supports and subsidies. Bob will qualify for these subsidies as long as his income is not over $750,000.
Lest you think that is a typo, let me repeat…Bob qualifies for subsidies as long as his income is not over three-quarters of a million dollars.
My dad is in the car business for a US automaker. With the economy down and foreign cars kicking the US ass, Dad’s job and finances are lacking some of the security he previously enjoyed. Where the hell are Willie Nelson and John Mellancamp when Dad needs them?
I have a buddy whose family has had a hardware store for 50 or 60 years. His grandfather made a good living with that store for many years and his uncle did very well with it for most of his career. My buddy grew up thinking he would take over. But since Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart and Target have opened stores in town, any dreams of being the hardware go-to guy have been vanquished. Further, the uncle is just struggling to stay afloat until he can retire and sell the place (at a tremendous loss, no doubt). So far, the federal government hasn’t passed a multi-billion dollar “Family Hardware Store Act”. So why is the farmer’s kid held in higher esteem than the hardware store kid?
There’s a romanticized view of the noble family farmer It’s not just that the farmer keeps us fed but it is one of the last vestiges of the “traditionalist” family unit. I addressed this briefly in March 2006 when I was reviewing that horrible Rod Dreher book:
“Prior to, let’s say, the 40’s… a monastic family existence (especially in rural locales) was the norm out of necessity. In the absence of 401Ks, Social Security, Kroger and a Waffle House on every corner, having a large family was a selfish act of self- preservation (not to mention the result of inadequate contraception), It was not due to some altruistic pursuit of the “Permanent Things.”
You had kids to help you plant and harvest the crops. After they were grown, you gave them a plot of land across the creek so that they could continue helping you out with the farm and, once you’re old and debilitated, give them the farm and they, in turn, would keep you fed until you shuffled off the mortal coil. They would do the same with their kids. The circle of life goes on. (Cue Elton John)”
The family farm is no longer necessary to feed the country. Corporate farming and, evidently 9% of "family farms" has developed a very efficient method of keeping the grocery store shelves stocked. If you WANT to make your living from being a farmer but you don’t want to answer to a boss, by all means, be your own farmer. I hope you make a million bucks doing so. With the price of food today, you just might. Just don’t expect the government (and, by extension, ME) to bail you out if you can’t make a go of it.
Screw the family farm…I’m tired of protecting them. This is not 1935 and America is not the rural, agrarian country that it once was. With the advent of cars, interstates, airplanes, public schools, etc., there’s a world of options for farmer’s kids to make a living if farming doesn’t work out for them. THIS is one area that is in serious need of reform.
posted by Big Bad Dad at 2:55 PM
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