Let's have a bit of fun and look on the lighter side
of things as to how individual farmers fit into the
grand scheme of things. In a funny way, this does
fit into commodity farming. Try this quiz for fun.
It's based on the assumption that you are going to
pursue a 35 year career in grain farming and we will
use averages of the past five years to keep it simple
in calculating numbers.
1. At 5 mph, it would take a tractor or combine
5000 hrs to travel around the earth. Over 35 years,
how many times will you have driven around the
earth in a tractor and/or combine?
2. Since most production is handled twice (field to
storage, storage to delivery), how many tons of
product will you have 'lifted' in 35 years?
3. The average freighter carries roughly 60,000
tons of cargo (approximately 2 million bushels of
wheat). Assuming you grew only 60 lb wheat every
year, based on your production, how many years
would it take to fill a ship?
4. If you annually use an operating loan, how much
would you borrow and pay back over 35 years?
5.Based on your annual chemical costs over the
past 5 years, how much will you have spent over 35
years on these products?
5. Same for fertilizer.
6. Assuming again that you only grew 60 lb wheat
and that one bushel produced about 55 loaves of
bread, and a family of four consumed 365 loaves a
year, how many families would you feed with bread
over 35 years?
7. On a scale of 1 (hate it) to 10 (I'd rather die than
not be able to farm), where do you fit in?
8. Do you see farming mostly as a business or
mostly as a way of life?
About twenty years ago, a group of us met with a
bunch of MP's and Senators who were on a fact
finding mission investigating the financial health
and the importance of the farming community and
their significance to the national economy. At about
the same time, much was made of the 4 or 5 billion
being invested in the Ft Mac tar sands annually
which was then deemed to be this fantastic 'mega-
project'. We tallied up the total annual investment
made by the grains, livestock, fruit, vegetable
industry, etc. and discovered that the annual outlay
of investment by producers exceeded oil sand
development by far and we titled our presentation -
agriculture, the sustainable and renewable annual
mega project. It did catch the attention of these
fine folks but never did go beyond that. Point
being, don't ever underestimate your contribution
to the health of the nation or to the needs of the
world's population! Add some of your own
questions to the quiz and have fun.
Rockpile
of things as to how individual farmers fit into the
grand scheme of things. In a funny way, this does
fit into commodity farming. Try this quiz for fun.
It's based on the assumption that you are going to
pursue a 35 year career in grain farming and we will
use averages of the past five years to keep it simple
in calculating numbers.
1. At 5 mph, it would take a tractor or combine
5000 hrs to travel around the earth. Over 35 years,
how many times will you have driven around the
earth in a tractor and/or combine?
2. Since most production is handled twice (field to
storage, storage to delivery), how many tons of
product will you have 'lifted' in 35 years?
3. The average freighter carries roughly 60,000
tons of cargo (approximately 2 million bushels of
wheat). Assuming you grew only 60 lb wheat every
year, based on your production, how many years
would it take to fill a ship?
4. If you annually use an operating loan, how much
would you borrow and pay back over 35 years?
5.Based on your annual chemical costs over the
past 5 years, how much will you have spent over 35
years on these products?
5. Same for fertilizer.
6. Assuming again that you only grew 60 lb wheat
and that one bushel produced about 55 loaves of
bread, and a family of four consumed 365 loaves a
year, how many families would you feed with bread
over 35 years?
7. On a scale of 1 (hate it) to 10 (I'd rather die than
not be able to farm), where do you fit in?
8. Do you see farming mostly as a business or
mostly as a way of life?
About twenty years ago, a group of us met with a
bunch of MP's and Senators who were on a fact
finding mission investigating the financial health
and the importance of the farming community and
their significance to the national economy. At about
the same time, much was made of the 4 or 5 billion
being invested in the Ft Mac tar sands annually
which was then deemed to be this fantastic 'mega-
project'. We tallied up the total annual investment
made by the grains, livestock, fruit, vegetable
industry, etc. and discovered that the annual outlay
of investment by producers exceeded oil sand
development by far and we titled our presentation -
agriculture, the sustainable and renewable annual
mega project. It did catch the attention of these
fine folks but never did go beyond that. Point
being, don't ever underestimate your contribution
to the health of the nation or to the needs of the
world's population! Add some of your own
questions to the quiz and have fun.
Rockpile
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