A *rich* farmer?
Today, the Indianapolis Star wrote an editorial about farm subsidies: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/OPINION08/805160390/1291/OPINION08
I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I myself want to be a farmer. My mother grew up on a farm and continues to manage the few hundred that remain. I have friends who farm and make it their living. No farmer that I know is making $90K a year. Yes, they are making a living, but it's no better than the average Joe with a desk job. Maybe $50K a year. That's not a lot considering the expenses and unpredictability that accompany farming. And raising a family these days is getting more and more expensive. It's a tough market and a tough time. Yes, crop prices are sky rocketing, but so is the price of fuel, land, and taxes. It's hard for a farmer who has 2500 acres or less to get by--especially if that's the only income. So in that sense, I think the small (yes, 2500 acres is small!) family farmer probably needs some sort of subsidies to get by.
However, I have also been reading about and discussing with fellow farmers that the soaring crop prices are drawing out irresponsible decisions from new and experienced farmers alike. They battle it out at land auctions, raising the price of tillable land near to that of land being sold for development. Folks, your average farmer is going to have a tough time paying the mortgage every month on $50K a year. When farmers fight over land and make irresponsible decisions about how much debt they can manage, I don't agree that the government should bail them out. They need to be more responsible. You don't see our government bailing out the thousands of families that purchase homes they can't afford. Can't pay your house mortgage? Bank takes your house. Yes, I know that can happen to farmers too, but these subsides can keep them afloat a lot longer, and on the taxpayers dime to boot.
Furthermore, the corporate farmer with many more thousands of acres who really does make $90K and more per year...folks, no one making $90K or more a year needs help from the government. They're making it very well on their own.
But it's kind of hard to give hand outs to only the family farmer who is responsible. So what do we do? I have long stood by farm subsides, but even I admit this doesn't look like a good plan. This country is struggling in so many ways. Perhaps it's time for the farmers to stand on their own. I don't know. Like I said, I have mixed feelings.
I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I myself want to be a farmer. My mother grew up on a farm and continues to manage the few hundred that remain. I have friends who farm and make it their living. No farmer that I know is making $90K a year. Yes, they are making a living, but it's no better than the average Joe with a desk job. Maybe $50K a year. That's not a lot considering the expenses and unpredictability that accompany farming. And raising a family these days is getting more and more expensive. It's a tough market and a tough time. Yes, crop prices are sky rocketing, but so is the price of fuel, land, and taxes. It's hard for a farmer who has 2500 acres or less to get by--especially if that's the only income. So in that sense, I think the small (yes, 2500 acres is small!) family farmer probably needs some sort of subsidies to get by.
However, I have also been reading about and discussing with fellow farmers that the soaring crop prices are drawing out irresponsible decisions from new and experienced farmers alike. They battle it out at land auctions, raising the price of tillable land near to that of land being sold for development. Folks, your average farmer is going to have a tough time paying the mortgage every month on $50K a year. When farmers fight over land and make irresponsible decisions about how much debt they can manage, I don't agree that the government should bail them out. They need to be more responsible. You don't see our government bailing out the thousands of families that purchase homes they can't afford. Can't pay your house mortgage? Bank takes your house. Yes, I know that can happen to farmers too, but these subsides can keep them afloat a lot longer, and on the taxpayers dime to boot.
Furthermore, the corporate farmer with many more thousands of acres who really does make $90K and more per year...folks, no one making $90K or more a year needs help from the government. They're making it very well on their own.
But it's kind of hard to give hand outs to only the family farmer who is responsible. So what do we do? I have long stood by farm subsides, but even I admit this doesn't look like a good plan. This country is struggling in so many ways. Perhaps it's time for the farmers to stand on their own. I don't know. Like I said, I have mixed feelings.