Corn/Soybean Farmers

[Patty]

jason, I used to feel as you do about the farm programs.....but then a light bulb went off    in my little pea brain...."if you can't beat 'em , join em' "...so I went out and bought a farm. Now I am the one with the bill of my cap folded just right to catch all those checks as they fall out of my mailbox.      (not really, but it made for a better story)


My point is, the government is not going to change just because I may not like what they are doing. Learning to use the system isn't always a bad thing, and now I go around with a smile on my face    instead of a frown.  >:(   

[beenthere]

I agree with Patty that it's there, so use it.
However, if it is ever going to change, and not just get worse (more and more 'payments') then those elected to office need to be responsible and change it. It's almost now like these (and other) forms of 'welfare' are just paying for (buying) votes.  I have a B.I.L. who is all for getting all he can out of the Gov't no matter what it is going to cost the future citizens. He'll vote for who will pay the most. Somehow, I'd like to see some effort to get out of this downward spiral.  :

: ??? :

[Patty]

Those of you who know me, know that I am most conservative, and more of a libertarian than anything. The less government the better in my opinian. With that being said, one thing the government does do is keep your food prices low, very low, by subsidizing the farmers. Not all of us who farm, choose to partake in the programs, but for those that do, I have few problems with. I guess I'd rather see my tax dollars go to the farmers than to most of the programs we support.

[Larry]

Those that don't like the system should get out and vote...and speak there opinion...and work to change the system.  I'm a tobacco farmer...and we got a tobacco buyout right before the last presidential election...because we are a huge voting block.  Not saying it is right or wrong.

Yeap and I like my CRP check that came couple days ago...but really like seeing the huge increase in wildlife, starting to see a few quail now, and the soil is staying right where God put it.

Don't think there are many farmers in the cornbelt that don't take government money.  If you don't it's darn near impossible to get crop insurance.  Wanta borrow money for new equipment, land, improvements, or to put a crop in?  The farm banks will tell you quite quick that you are not a good risk unless you are in all the farm programs...so you don't get the loan.

[Ernie]

Swampdonkey

It looks like the contractor with the combine was paid by area not by yield >:( >:(

[SwampDonkey]

Ernie, it wasn't contracted. It was the farmer's machine. Its the same bunch that cut 300 acres of corn way past harvest time (so it was all diseased) last year, then dumped it all along the edge of the field in January. Here it is the middle of October almost and no soybeans and corn cut yet.  :

I'm not against helping farmers, but I am against helping a bunch of laid back people who don't care if the crops ever get harvested and boast about not really caring about it because the government is going to send them a cheque weather they make a profitable business of it or not.  :

Don't think there are many farmers in the cornbelt that don't take government money.  If you don't it's darn near impossible to get crop insurance.

They tried crop insurance here , then the first time the potato industry had troubles everyone cashed in and no one could ever afford the insurance again and their sure weren't no programs from the government to subsidize your purchasing crop insurance. (there might have been in the initial phase of the crop insurance program) You have to deal with the bank on your own. It didn't seem to matter that you delt with one bank for 30 years either. If one morning the manager of that bank woke up and decided you was a credit risk, even after making payments on time all your life, he wasn't gonna lend you any money this planting season. No ryhme no reason, today we're gonna right you off.  Then you just move on to the next bank. :

[Patty]

You know there are a few things the government has done right....subsidizing electric companies to bring electricity to the rural areas, subsidizing farmers to bring cheap food to the public, building roads and bridges to increase interstate commerce, creating the post office to increase communication, building an army to defend our freedoms....

Are these programs subject to abuse,  oh yea, but not everybody is out to abuse the system, just a few bad apples. In a perfect world we wouldn't need armies, and everyone would grow their own food, and create their own energy, and we could teleport around like on star trek, but this isn't a perfect world....so we make do with what we have and do the best we can with it.

[DouginUtah]

Earlier in this thread there was talk about CRP. I guess the following has been around for a while (Charlie posted it in November of 2001) but for those who don't go back that far here it is again.

Here is a letter that reiterates what is going on in farming:  a spoof but it makes a point about CRP.

Dear Secretary of Agriculture,

My friends Darryl and Janice over by Big Timber, Montana recently received a check for $3,980 from the government for not raising hogs. So, I would like to go into the not raising hogs business myself very soon.

What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best type of farm on which to not raise hogs and what breed of hogs is best not to raise? I want to be certain that I approach this endeavor in keeping with all government policies. I would prefer to not raise duroc-jerseys, but if that is not a good choice not to raise then I could just as easily not raise improved Chester Whites or Yorkshires.

As I see it, the hardest part of the program will be keeping an accurate Inventory of how many hogs I haven't raised. If I can get $1,000 for not raising 50 hogs, will I get $2,000 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to start out operating on a small scale at first, holding myself down to not raising 4,000 hogs. This will give me an income of $80,000 the first year. Then I can buy a new, really cool Hummer.

Now, another thing comes to mind. The hogs I don't raise will not eat about 60,000 bushels of wheat and corn. I understand you pay farmers not to raise wheat and corn. How do I qualify for payments for not raising wheat and corn not to feed to the hogs I am not going to raise? I want to get started not feeding as soon as possible, as it seems like a good time to not to raise hogs and grain.

I am also considering the "not milking cows" business as well, since I will have lots of time on my hands not raising- hogs and grain so please send me information on that also. In view of these circumstances I understand the government will consider me totally unemployed so I plan to apply for unemployment and food stamps as well.

Be assured that your party will receive my vote in the next election.

Patriotically yours,

Furby
;D  ;D  ;D

(Seriously, what I learned from this is that duroc-jerseys are not cattle, they are pigs!  8) )

[D._Frederick]

SwampDonkey,

I was looking at your picture of the oat field greening up after being combined, most likely what happened is that there was a lot immature developed kernals that have little weight. These do blow-out in the threshing process and will sprout.

If they are left in the grain, the weight of the grain will be less per bushel and the farmer will be docked if they sell the oats.

[SwampDonkey]

D_Frederick, it's possible. I know this bunch isn't the quickest to get on the field in the spring, so maybe the crop was late. When father grew grain (and had several awards for his grain) he'd sow it in late April- early May and cut it in mid-late August, not into October.  : Here it is November with snow in the air and they've just started cutting soyabean and haven't touched the corn yet.  If they're waitign for it to dry, then they have a long wait, til next June. ;D

[Furby]

 :D :D :D
Thanks Doug, I needed a laugh!
I only wish I could get a small portion of that not raising hog $. :

[pigman]

Doug, that is a good spoof. But it is a shame he did not use a product that has some form of goverment payments. Hogs and most livestok interprises do not and never have had any form of goverment payments. There are several crops that have direct govement payments that would have made a better spoof. I guess a lot of people just like to pick on hog farmers. : ;D

[Kleek]

Not so, Pigman.  I worked for my local ASCS office in 1988 and counted cattle and hogs on MANY farms for feed payments.  Those who know the programs and how to get them are doing fine around here and raising land rent every year.

[pigman]

Not so, Pigman. I worked for my local ASCS office in 1988 and counted cattle and hogs on MANY farms for feed payments. Those who know the programs and how to get them are doing fine around here and raising land rent every year.

Yow are correct Kleek, the first mistake I ever made. It don't matter everyone already knows that I don't know what I am talking about anyway. ;) Those payments went to livestock farmers in the few areas that were declared a drouth area by the govment. The payments only went to reimburse farmers that had already bought feed for their livestock.

[Gary_C]

That "spoof letter" has been around for a long time and it is just as much a misrepresentation of what is "going on in farming" today as it was when someone wrote it years ago. To the best of my knowledge, the government has NEVER paid ANYONE to not raise hogs, not milk cows, nor to not raise feed grains. There have been programs that REQUIRED farmers to set aside a percentage of their established base of corn, wheat, or oats to be eligible for the farm program. It was nothing more than economic blackmail when crop prices were depressed because of some other stupid government actions like trying to use food as a weapon against other countries. Most of the meager farm programs payments are nothing more than protection of our farmers from the low world prices for feed grains caused by other countries farm subsidies, particularly the EU.

Do not think that I am defending the the farm programs that our US Congress has written. I listened to a speech by a farm policy expert who , in response to a question about low prices, recited every president, secretary of agriculture, what their farm program consisted of, and how it FAILED. His point was there has never been a farm program written that was the best thing to do, nor the right thing to do. They are all political compromises that were acceptable to a wide range of interests and are probably destined to fail before the ink is dry.

So don't blame the farmers for farm program payments. In reality they are just the cheapest means the congress can devise to keep food prices low.

In this country, we enjoy the lowest cost and safest food supply of any country in the world. I have seen comparisons with EU countries and they pay about 80% more for food than we pay.

Just remember the old saying, "don't criticize a farmer with your mouth full." 

[Gary_C]

One other thing I forgot to mention. Last week in the US Senate, during a debate on cutting the farm programs, Senator Grassley from Iowa submitted an amendment to cap farm program payments to individual farmers at $250,000. The southern senators vigorously rejected this cap to protect the large cotton plantation owners in the south. The amendment was defeated.

Also, corn prices have been around $2 per bushel since the 1930's. This fall the local bid price was down to $1.14 and even lower some places.

How would you like to try to survive on depression year prices?

The only good thing this year is most of the corn was dry enough that it went straight into the bins withoud using any of that expensive propane. There will be an enormus surplus of propane this winter but don't look for the price of that to fall to 1930's prices.

[Kleek]

Also, when counting programs for farmers, don't forget the PA 116....property tax based upon your farm income...never knew a farmer who made money

[DouginUtah]

Gary,

Your post almost sounds like you take offense to that letter. It's just humor! You don't need to discredit it. You are preaching to the choir. I think almost everyone here is pro-farmer. The humor isn't against the farmer, it is against the government which is destroying the small farmer.

-Doug

[Gary_C]

Doug

You are right, I did take offence by that "spoof" letter. If you had posted it on the joke or humorous story page, I would not have objected. However you did claim "Here is a letter that reiterates whats going on in farming" and it simply is not true.

If you wish to hear a humorous farming story I can tell you a true one. Back when Earl Butz was Sec. of Ag. he was a popular speaker on the talk circuit. He just loved to tell the story about how a sheep rancher in Montanna wrote a letter to the USDA complaining about the coyotes killing his sheep. The letter was refered to the appropiate department (the USDA has a dept for literally everything) and the lady in charge of that department wrote back to the rancher about how they were working a compound that would render the male coyotes sterile. The rancher promptly wrote back "lady you misunderstand, the coyotes are eating my sheep."

:D :D :D

You are right about one thing. The joke is on us and it is called the US Congress. The problem is there are so many people in Washington, DC with their hands out that any message about not voting for a payment limitation just simply will not be heard over the shouts of "gimmie" from the influencial wealthy. You do remember the energy bill that just passed contained over $100 million in gifts to the oil companies. They really needed that.   >:( >:(

Gary