Don't Bite the Hand

[Laodicean60]

My father in law makes 60K + a year with a 60 acre field and using a tractor (Admittedly he owns two but that is because he is a mechanic.). That is not the totally of his income but it certainly is a major portion. It is possible to still make a living as a small farmer but I agree that is harder then it used to be.

Does he sell locally or to a company? This city boy is ignorant of the farming business.

 

[Belk]

Does he sell locally or to a company? This city boy is ignorant of the farming business.

He sells to a local dairy. They contract with him for the feed they want.

 

[timothyu]

That was because he wasn't using his irrigation. The price of corn had fallen to the point that he wouldn't be able to recoup his investment, so it was cheaper to let it wither in the field.

This becomes a problem when a farmer gets locked into a contract from buying Mons*nto seeds as a farmer can no longer use seed from year to year without paying due to patented product. A few years back Mons*nto was going around suing independent farmers claiming their product was illegally mixed in with the unpatented crops (a simple matter for anyone devious to do - even birds can be responsible, by manually broadcasting patented seed into anyone's field then claim the farmer was stealing ). The result was to pay the amount sued for, or go under contract to avoid prosecution. Anyway, the result being that the complete package must be bought. A couple years back the area near me was rained out and the crops died, too late for replanting. Yet chemical (unneeded at this point) still had to be spread on the dead fields in order for the terms of the contract to be met. A win win for mons*nto, but a loss loss for the farmer, many of whom had to forfeit their land as a result. This economic blackmail has resulted in massive farm suicides by the destitute world wide for many years that were caught in this financial bind.

 

[DaisyDay]

A friend of mine in Ohio said that on some occasions farmers would have to plow food under to maintain price controls. When he said that I thought about all the people around the world starving.

Part of the reason for people around the world to be starving, besides war and politics, is the US dumping its excess agricultural products on poor countries to the point where local farmers can’t compete so the local agriculture gets neglected and devastated.

 

[Laodicean60]

Part of the reason for people around the world to be starving, besides war and politics, is the US dumping its excess agricultural products on poor countries to the point where local farmers can’t compete so the local agriculture gets neglected and devastated.

I didn't know that, but when you think about it it makes sense. Also, sanctions against Russia and the war in Ukraine have hurt the world because both are major exporters of food.

 

[Tuur]

My father in law makes 60K + a year with a 60 acre field and using a tractor (Admittedly he owns two but that is because he is a mechanic.). That is not the totally of his income but it certainly is a major portion. It is possible to still make a living as a small farmer but I agree that is harder then it used to be.

That’s good. What’s his cash crop? My father complained about the soil quality on the farm and worked all his farming days to build up the soil, but did better than he thought. After his death, I calculated the volume of corn storage on the farm and divided it by the acres of corn grown, and, except for poor years, the yield was better than average for that era.

 

[Tuur]

Part of the reason for people around the world to be starving, besides war and politics, is the US dumping its excess agricultural products on poor countries to the point where local farmers can’t compete so the local agriculture gets neglected and devastated.

What I’d like to know about dumping is who? Unless the crops are purchased by the US, it’s companies dumping, not the government. That said, the US government does purchase food, which is where some assistance food comes from, so dumping by the US government is possible.

 

[Belk]

That’s good. What’s his cash crop? My father complained about the soil quality on the farm and worked all his farming days to build up the soil, but did better than he thought. After his death, I calculated the volume of corn storage on the farm and divided it by the acres of corn grown, and, except for poor years, the yield was better than average for that era.

Funny you should mention soil. He does a four year rotation to ensure he keeps his soil with the appropriate nutrients. He does 3 years alfalfa and then a year of triticale. That keeps a good balance and allows him to use round up ready plants.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Part of the reason for people around the world to be starving, besides war and politics, is the US dumping its excess agricultural products on poor countries to the point where local farmers can’t compete so the local agriculture gets neglected and devastated.

I think another dynamic that's changed over the past decades is with regards to what the major "cash crops" are, the demand for each, and the ratio of "made for direct consumption" : "made for processing to make other stuff"

Things could balance out more (I suspect) if more farmland were used for "direct consumption" crops and less subsidizing for things like corn and soybeans (which is more widely used to make processed foods)

Farm Bill Wish List: More Veggies, Less Corn

Okay, yes, sometimes corn is a vegetable. But most of the time, it’s something else entirely—highly processed corn syrup in a can of soda, for example, or a fast food burger made from a corn-fed cow. Sadly, today the average American is eating too much of those junk foods, and not enough fruits...

civileats.com

...but it's hard to make that transition when most people want to eat a diet that's 70% meat (which means more corn/soy is needed for feed) and fill in the rest with processed foods (that also involves corn and soy for processing).

 

[timothyu]

Part of the reason for people around the world to be starving,

Don't forget that they once grew their own food but now are being told to grow commodities and spices for a global market while they then must now buy what they used to grow to live. If their crop fails, no money, no food. The globalization of the food industry where no one can be self sufficient is a brilliant business model but useless for self survival.

 

[Tuur]

Funny you should mention soil. He does a four year rotation to ensure he keeps his soil with the appropriate nutrients. He does 3 years alfalfa and then a year of triticale. That keeps a good balance and allows him to use round up ready plants.

Second attempt at posting this:

We grew a cover crop in the winter. To get full benefit with cover crops, you have to plow them under. My father described doing this growing up, but it may have started with soil conservation in the 20th Century. They used velvet beans, which he despised because it would drag on the plow. They also had small black southern pea used for cow fodder that they planted by the corn when they lay it by. The rows were 6 feet / 2m apart at that time, maybe due to using horses and mules to plow, and the peas vines would climb the dying stalks. After harvest, they turned in the cows to glean the field and they'd eat the peas.

He also told of a nearly forgotten cover crop: lupin. He liked it because unlike velvet beans, it quickly broke down in the soil, and it fixed nitrogen in incredible mounts. It was so common at one point that part of the US was called the lupin belt. Then came back to back hard winters that almost killed off the seed stock, and farmers switched to chemical nitrogen and never switched back.

We used rye after I was born. Rye puts an amazing amount of roots in the soil, which can help to amend it.

 

[timothyu]

After harvest, they turned in the cows to glean the field and they'd eat the peas.

See? Now there is ingenuity long lost to the university educated farmer of today. Kinda like by comparison, those who knew how to make a meal from scratch compared to opening a pack of processed make-believe today.

 

[Belk]

Second attempt at posting this:

We grew a cover crop in the winter. To get full benefit with cover crops, you have to plow them under. My father described doing this growing up, but it may have started with soil conservation in the 20th Century. They used velvet beans, which he despised because it would drag on the plow. They also had small black southern pea used for cow fodder that they planted by the corn when they lay it by. The rows were 6 feet / 2m apart at that time, maybe due to using horses and mules to plow, and the peas vines would climb the dying stalks. After harvest, they turned in the cows to glean the field and they'd eat the peas.

He also told of a nearly forgotten cover crop: lupin. He liked it because unlike velvet beans, it quickly broke down in the soil, and it fixed nitrogen in incredible mounts. It was so common at one point that part of the US was called the lupin belt. Then came back to back hard winters that almost killed off the seed stock, and farmers switched to chemical nitrogen and never switched back.

We used rye after I was born. Rye puts an amazing amount of roots in the soil, which can help to amend it.

With the Triticale you can plant in the fall and then let it winter over. Makes it super easy in the spring. Asa soon as the weather warms it starts growing like crazy. He will normally get 5 or 6 cuttings those years.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Who said foreign?

Or domestic. It doesn't really matter.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The problem is getting it to them, though.

There's literally tons of agricultural waste. Nothing quite like the "aroma" of fermenting watermelons. Nothing was wrong with them except they'd be considered culls and unsellable. Once canned flat beans that a farmer gave away for free instead of letting go to waste.

The problem is there can be a point where you can't turn a profit, and it's better to take the lost than throw good money after bad. Once I was checking on the work at an irrigation site, and the owner came out there thinking we thought there was a problem because the meter wasn't showing usage. That was because he wasn't using his irrigation. The price of corn had fallen to the point that he wouldn't be able to recoup his investment, so it was cheaper to let it wither in the field.

Even with subsidies?

 

[returntosender]

Notice how AP refuses to say the real beef in Germany, the Netherlands, India and now France is the matter of being dictated to by Monsanto, Gates and globalization. It's time for North American farmers to wake up before they too are pushed completely off their farms or absorbed by Corporatism. This corporate push has been going on since the 70's and is coming to it's pinnacle. The globalist plan as we are told every year at Davos is to control the world population by way of digital currency which can be manipulated or frozen, and food control, the two main weapons in their arsenal to keep the people subdued.

Ironically the elitists and media are saying it is the farmers who are a threat to the poor city folks with food blackmail when it is they themselves who boast the plan for everyone and of course present themselves as the victims instead of the farmers. The farmers want to feed all to make an independent living while the elites want to weaponize food. Watch how a few offended at the sound of tractors will try and control the narrative. A repeat of Canada a couple years ago . This is important and too few give it a thought, especially those in North America suckered into being too wrapped up in their petty local political fights with each other to see what is really going on. Actually it is actually these asleep who deserve what the globalists have planned. Without this background info, the article itself is useless propaganda.
France's protesting farmers encircle Paris with tractor barricades, vowing a 'siege' over grievances

We've been watching the farmer being pushed out for a long time by the powers that be. I'm sure we aLL have wanted to do something about it most things that the powers that be control. So tell us how we do that? We are not blind just powerless

 

[Tuur]

Even with subsidies?

Subsidies aren't transportation, nor the labor to gather culls left in the field.

 

[Tuur]

See? Now there is ingenuity long lost to the university educated farmer of today. Kinda like by comparison, those who knew how to make a meal from scratch compared to opening a pack of processed make-believe today.

That's what his family used to do. I remember helping him winnow the pea seeds with a tobacco sheet, but he was keeping it going for sentimental reasons. We let livestock glean our fields, too, but there was arguably more to glean because the corn picker (we didn't have a combine) left some on the stalks. Corn is grown so close together now what my family did with those peas isn't possible. Even on the 3 foot / 1 m rows of my youth it was getting too close. Now it's so close it almost looks like it was planted with a grain drill. It's not, but it sure looks that way.

I don't knock agricultural education. It helps much more than it harms. And that's from the outside looking in - I didn't major in agriculture.

 

[Laodicean60]

We've been watching the farmer being pushed out for a long time by the powers that be. I'm sure we aLL have wanted to do something about it most things that the powers that be control. So tell us how we do that? We are not blind just powerless

The devil's system makes it hard for the farmers. I see a day when a handful of companies run the USA. That's when we truly become slaves.

 

[Laodicean60]

We've been watching the farmer being pushed out for a long time by the powers that be. I'm sure we aLL have wanted to do something about it most things that the powers that be control. So tell us how we do that? We are not blind just powerless

I think these guys are doing it. I bet Del Monte is watching. Maybe the farmers here will do the same as the autoworkers did. If we have the same conditions as Europe.

"Farmers say they are not being paid enough, are choked by taxes and green rules and face unfair competition from abroad.

"The protests across Europe come ahead of European Parliament elections in June in which the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen making gains.
While the farmers' crisis is not officially on the agenda of the EU summit, which so far has focused on aid to Ukraine, an EU diplomat said the situation with the farmers was likely to be discussed later in the day."

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/angry-farmers-descend-brussels-take-protest-eu-summit-2024-02-01/