The biggest issues facing farmers ?

[bucket]

For this general area it is the dryness.

If we don't get recharged 2021 could be dismal for crop selection...

Usually we see sprayers going and fall work has been quiet....



Add your thoughts.

[Guest]

For this general area it is the dryness.

If we don't get recharged 2021 could be dismal for crop selection...

Usually we see sprayers going and fall work has been quiet....



Add your thoughts.

Ansolutely is here
The swamp is a a swamp no longer

[burnt]

At the risk of derailing the thread - I see it as not the weather, not the prices, but punitive government policy.

The weather and prices change constantly - they have since the beginning of agriculture. So we roll with it - might get badly bruised and battered but we know what we're dealing with...

But when government creates policy that puts us at a disadvantage to producers of other countries, and create regulations that prevent us from producing to our capacity, and put barriers up to further development, then we are ALL totally screwed.

And that's what we've got in Ottawa today.

Sorry bucket, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to separate politics from food production.

[ajl]

This dry spell has been the best thing that has happened around here in a long while. Almost finished salvaging and it is the bin dry or near dry. The issues facing farmers vary. Wonky environmental policy is certainly a threat. Debt deflation is another one in that most of our customers will not be able to afford our produce if that gets going. Artificially low interest rates are a huge problem for those needing new opportunities for growth as they prevent orderly intergenerational transfer of assets.

[Partners]

If the mud zone is dry.
The rest of you are really dry.
Cloudy and only a spit of rain.
It will turn around and all will need 4 ft of snow.
If it stays dry maybe Canada will finally realize the importance of AG.

[furrowtickler]

Not trying to derail either but by far the biggest issue here in the NW is rural crime against farm families . It’s out of control here

[bucket]

No one is derailing this thread....its an open question.

[TSIPP]

I kinda wonder when the jets aren’t flying if that’s why the clouds dried up?
Maybe it’s a drought, 26 inches of rain last year and this year it’s not much more than 6 inches.
Probably just weather.

[Sheepwheat]

Depends on the farmer I guess. Plenty wet here. Thankful for that. Not even close to dry.

To answer the question... a bit of a rant follows...

For many it seems to be the neighbors, and the perception that growing more at all costs is somehow the answer to what ails agriculture. Gotta keep up at all costs. That gun pointing at most farmers heads, forcing them to farm the way most do now a days is a pretty real thing.

Anyone I talk to cares less about govt policy, and mostly care about Jim down the road who looks to be retiring, and how can I ensure I get the land, so that John doesn’t. Stupid gun.

How many acres an hour will the 800 000 dollar combine, wait, make that three of them, harvest, and extrapolating, how much land can I handle, so that I ensure John doesn’t get Jim’s land. That bloody gun pointing at my head.

What newest varieties and snake oil can I put on my crops to ensure I grow more bushels, to sell at the whim of the buyers, with no control, so that I can say my canola went 70, so I can make payments on those three 800 000 dollar machines. Never mind a shrinking net return. Then I must complain about the price of inputs, rent, and grain... you know the gun held at my head and all.

What is the highest rent I can pay Tom for his land to whisk it away from Mike, the thousand acre farmer who seems to struggle? He only has a 9500 combine, a 30 foot Morris 1; it’s obvious he can’t handle it! Here Tom, how about 90 bucks an acre? That flipping gun is a big one. We don’t need thousand acres farms no more, I need the land more than mike you see. The combines you see. They need to look good on more acres.

That little bush where George used to live, raised his family on, at the corner of that field is useless. Useless I say! I own the land now. I NEED that land! I’m buying a cat and a hoe. I’m flattening George’s little piece of history. His house? That little thing? Hahaha, the hoe will take care of that, no problem! Those six acres will make my farm more efficient. In ten years, no one will even remember George! I mean, I need the land to produce more high value grain, right? Same goes for when I buy out Mike, the thousand acre guy who couldn’t make it because I ripped him off of a third of his land base for 90 bucks an acre, (the lazy nut never even counter offered, heh heh heh), his yard is even bigger at eight acres! And the 30 acre pasture with his new fences? Lots to gain there. It’s so great I bought the cat and hoe. I’m just so great. What planning, what efficiency!

Truly, farmers are more worried about getting more more more. The gun is forcing them.

By and large, this is how it seems to me. Few exceptions anymore.

More land, best machinery, highest inputs to out do the neighbor. Smash down all the Bush, all the old yards. Make full quarters. When I die, I want to be known as the guy who worked so hard, and attained so much. It helps me so much now in my death. It matters most to gain more stuff. Lotsa room in this 8 by 3 plot I’m in now!

It’s really quite stupid actually.

Who suffers? The thousand acre farmer just trying to make a proper living. The garlic farmer who wants 20 acres, but no one will give him a chance.

So to answer your question, I truly believe that the biggest issue that worries 90% of the farmers that are left, is doing all they can to get more. More land, more stuff to farm it, highest yields they can so they can afford it.

[agstar77]

Farmers are their own worst enemies.

[bucket]

Depends on the farmer I guess. Plenty wet here. Thankful for that. Not even close to dry.

To answer the question... a bit of a rant follows...

For many it seems to be the neighbors, and the perception that growing more at all costs is somehow the answer to what ails agriculture. Gotta keep up at all costs. That gun pointing at most farmers heads, forcing them to farm the way most do now a days is a pretty real thing.

Anyone I talk to cares less about govt policy, and mostly care about Jim down the road who looks to be retiring, and how can I ensure I get the land, so that John doesn’t. Stupid gun.

How many acres an hour will the 800 000 dollar combine, wait, make that three of them, harvest, and extrapolating, how much land can I handle, so that I ensure John doesn’t get Jim’s land. That bloody gun pointing at my head.

What newest varieties and snake oil can I put on my crops to ensure I grow more bushels, to sell at the whim of the buyers, with no control, so that I can say my canola went 70, so I can make payments on those three 800 000 dollar machines. Never mind a shrinking net return. Then I must complain about the price of inputs, rent, and grain... you know the gun held at my head and all.

What is the highest rent I can pay Tom for his land to whisk it away from Mike, the thousand acre farmer who seems to struggle? He only has a 9500 combine, a 30 foot Morris 1; it’s obvious he can’t handle it! Here Tom, how about 90 bucks an acre? That flipping gun is a big one. We don’t need thousand acres farms no more, I need the land more than mike you see. The combines you see. They need to look good on more acres.

That little bush where George used to live, raised his family on, at the corner of that field is useless. Useless I say! I own the land now. I NEED that land! I’m buying a cat and a hoe. I’m flattening George’s little piece of history. His house? That little thing? Hahaha, the hoe will take care of that, no problem! Those six acres will make my farm more efficient. In ten years, no one will even remember George! I mean, I need the land to produce more high value grain, right? Same goes for when I buy out Mike, the thousand acre guy who couldn’t make it because I ripped him off of a third of his land base for 90 bucks an acre, (the lazy nut never even counter offered, heh heh heh), his yard is even bigger at eight acres! And the 30 acre pasture with his new fences? Lots to gain there. It’s so great I bought the cat and hoe. I’m just so great. What planning, what efficiency!

Truly, farmers are more worried about getting more more more. The gun is forcing them.

By and large, this is how it seems to me. Few exceptions anymore.

More land, best machinery, highest inputs to out do the neighbor. Smash down all the Bush, all the old yards. Make full quarters. When I die, I want to be known as the guy who worked so hard, and attained so much. It helps me so much now in my death. It matters most to gain more stuff. Lotsa room in this 8 by 3 plot I’m in now!

It’s really quite stupid actually.

Who suffers? The thousand acre farmer just trying to make a proper living. The garlic farmer who wants 20 acres, but no one will give him a chance.

So to answer your question, I truly believe that the biggest issue that worries 90% of the farmers that are left, is doing all they can to get more. More land, more stuff to farm it, highest yields they can so they can afford it.

A quick sarcastic remark inserted here......you are whining....but I agree 100 percent ....

[Guest]

no worries sheep
history always repeats
early 80's land $125 k (of real money), i might add , twice the price of a new 1480 int. combine
now land $340 , combine $680
these mach. flipping BTO'S will be in fetal position licking their nuts soon
these numbers simply don't work with 1970 grain prices
you can always grow more to subsidize price , until you can't ..............
as was discovered this year

[Sheepwheat]

A quick sarcastic remark inserted here......you are whining....but I agree 100 percent ....

Lol. A lot of it is tongue in cheek. But it seems quite real as I drive the country now a days.

[farmaholic]

FŲCK is it dry here.

The Ghetto might have to be wall to wall wheat next year.

Does canola germinate in concrete?

[Robertbarlage]

The left.