The End of Agriculture in America

[rsomer]

He will have $60,000 gross , $39,000 take home or $3258 per month. And how many years till he gets that, probably four. House payments, car payments, food, clothes, entertainment, he could have nothing left, depending upon his lifestyle and if his wife can find work. Sounds to me like the young lad had a good start with his parents, the problem was he had a bad job. He didn’t have to quit the farm to improve that problem. He could have managed his risk on the farm while he was working towards ownership and a future. Instead he traded it in for a job which he could be fired from when he hits 50. Of course I don’t know his entire story but it could be he made a questionable decision. I feel sorry for this boys parents, he abandoned the legacy they were probably prepared to leave him.

[boone]

rsomer,pandiana,
You are mostly right here as we both know. But first ask yourself what was the one important thing you needed and probably had to keep this farming venture together. " The true faith that we are apart of something honoured and respected", that sacrifices made are represented in your family, community and nation. Now I believe Alberta Ag minister and associates are solidly behind the cattleman and farmer (comparatively speaking) but remember in Saskatchewan Ag is mostly lip service. This young fellow had the misfortune of letting upper Canada partition a once great territory into two struggling entities. But this is recent history, so as each goes it's own way longer this only adds credence to the mirage of two separate and polarized futures.
If Saskatchewan were a bank or an Insurance company we know the announcements would be imminent.

[pandiana]

I can't help but think that the deafening silence to our BSE predicament is a result of our federal agriculture policy mimicing that seen in the US referred to by Blank above. It seems as though they are adopting a sink of swim attitude. Possibly some provincial governments are throwing up their hands in frustration as they have nowhere to go. As stated above, only a small percentage of voters are still farming. Not many farm votes left to lobby for farm policy.

[rsomer]

boone: Yes, I also believe the Alberta Ag minister is solidly behind the cattleman. Things are better here, comparatively speaking, than in Saskatchewan. Having a few billion in the bank sure helps to be popular. Steven Blank points out that farm labour is leaving the farm to move higher up the "Economic Food Chain". I have never thought of farming as a job though, maybe more of a career in farm management or an opportunity as an ag investment manager with a significant outdoor component.

pandiana: The silence surrounding BSE is deafening, isn’t it. It is 134 days since the BSE outbreak and there is still no plan in place for slaughter cows. It seems to me that the federal government is pretty much in limbo until the change in leadership is complete. Actually since Martin stepped down as finance minister the finance department has not been able to make many bold moves either. This will be corrected in the short term but too bad for us BSE had to happen during a change in leadership.

GDP grew by 0.6% in July in the middle of the BSE crisis. See: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/09/30/gdp_030930 This CBC story mentions SARS, the blackout, forest fires, the strong dollar, mining and real estate, however the beef industry or the agriculture industry did not warrant a mention. Maybe we aren’t as important as we think.

Blank points out that farm incomes after government support have dropped. But is the problem farming or the increasing role of government support in agriculture. The chicken or the egg. Government support, largely led by the United States and the EU in order to give their respective ag and agri-business industries a competitive advantage in the world have taken over a greater percentage of net farm incomes. This government support just breeds more government support as production adjusts to the economic stimulus. Eventually producers in countries without this support adjust to become more efficient with a lower cost base and continue the pressure to sell their produce into those markets with the money to purchase their goods. The U.S. and the EU are going nned to, at some point, find some other way to support their agriculture or else their industries really might collapse under the weight of the government safety net.

[cowman]

I do believe Europe is moving away from production subsidies to subsidies based on stewartship of the land. Things like not plowing down the trees etc. I remember reading an article about an English farmer who got a payment from the government to keep his hedgerows and let the birdwatchers on his land. I think the payment was about twice the money he made on his cattle!
So if they want me to preserve the habitat for the grasshoppers, coyotes, gophers and magpies just send me a healthy check and I'll be more than happy to oblige! On top of that I'll get rid of all those environmentally unfriendly cows so the city slickers can walk around enjoying nature and keep their hiking boots clean. This can happen...all it takes is some money!
Ducks Unlimited owns a lot of land and it's prime purpose is to raise ducks! Now who needs ducks? We just need to convince the public that they need gophers and other assorted vermin and we'll suddenly no longer be dumb farmers but ecological facilitators! I can just see it....What do you do? Oh I run 5000 gophers in a natural habitat and I'm hoping to buy out the neighbor so I can do my part for the earth!

[kato]

We have a little creek running through our land that apparently is stocked with trout. I say apparently, because I think I saw one back in about 1989. The creek was totally dry for most of the summer. Just a gully with the odd puddle in it.

This water belongs to the fish now. We have had to fence it off so the cows can't drink out of it. That's not the end of the world with us, because at least they paid for the fence. Our neighbours had a bridge over the same creek that needed repairs. Fisheries department would not allow it. They were forced to build a half mile long approach to the back side of their yard. A bridge has been in that spot since 1885. Now it is a mortal danger to the "fish".

We are told that we need permits to pump water from this creek. Permits that are often not given out, either.

All I have to say is "Show me the money"

[cowman]

Unfortunately that is the problem..."Show me the money"! Our governments and other assorted do-gooders are all for returning everything to a pristine state but they conveniently forget about the money! Except for all the high priced help running around telling you what to do, then the skys the limit. Most of these so called "experts" with all the letters behind their names don't have enough common sense to pound sand down a hole, but they always have a costly solution! When you work for the government money is never a problem unless it might go to the farmer!

[cowman]

Rsomer: I sure like that "ag investment manager with a signifigant outdoor component"! I'll try to remember that one at 2 AM in January, when I'm getting that snaky heifer into the barn! That is a good one!