Farming

[OldSchool]

I've seen a steady decline in working farms in my area of central NY over the past 20 or so years. Not too long ago, there were a half dozen within a few miles of my house and not one of them is still operating. Some of the fields are rented for hay by a couple of the remaining farms, but a lot of them are growing up in brush or building lots. I don't get too far from home these days, but I'm seeing the same thing in other places around here.

A couple of the farmers I talk to say they don't know how much longer they can hold on and when the time comes, they hope to be able to make enough on the sale of their farms and all their equipment just to be able to pay off what they owe on it. It's a sad state of affairs when these folks are working 16-18 hours days, 365 days a year and can't make ends meet.

I have to wonder if the average person today even realises what these farms and the people that run them mean to us and where we'd be without them. They feed us for crying out loud, not to mention  how much they benefit the turkeys and other wildlife.

The only farm around here that I know of that seems to be doing really well, is a big setup that's subsidised by the government. They bring in migrant workers, pay them very little and the government kicks in the rest of their pay. I don't have anything against the people that work there, they're just trying to survive like the rest of us, but in my opinion, we should be taking better care of the people that have been taking care of us all these years.

I didn't intend for this to turn into a rant, I was just wondering if the same thing is happening in other places too. Guess I got a little carried away. 

Bob

[dejake]

i see more and more farms being sold to developers.  I lost one hunting spot last year, and this year will be the last hunt on another farm.  It's a shame.  Just like retail, it's going the way of mega-conglomerates that corner the market.

[hobbes]

The farmers I know back home seem to be doing ok. Part of my family farms. I know some of them complain but I see new trucks in the drive everytime I'm home. 

The small guys don't have much of a chance and starting a farm seems nearly impossible without some sort of a jumpstart. Small farms are being replaced by mega-farms.

[Swather]

I don't like seeing them get bought, subdivided, developed or whatever, and lose the habitat either.

But take better care of them how?

The laws of economics are immutable.  The economics of farming have changed every decade since at least the advent of the McCormick thresher.  It is a bigger market and spans the world.  The scale has changed, and a small place won't cut it unless they are doing some boutique thing like local beef, pastured chickens, pick your own vegetables, flowers, etc.

Even the employment situation is different.  For example, in row cropping, the crops are often round up ready and hybrids, and they are planted closer together in the row and the rows are closer.  So there are more plants per acre. They plow the crops a lot less, and need less labor and time on the tractor.  When harvest time comes, they just pick up some part time help and contract with truck owners to haul to the elevator/buyer.  Two or three men, perhaps in a family, can easily farm 1,200 acres of row crops right up until harvest time when they'll need a little more help.  That is not the way things were even 30 years ago when they plowed the crops much more often to get the weeds.

The size and price of the equipment has changed too, it's gotten bigger, better, and faster, but more expensive.  To make the overhead work, more land is needed.  A number of family farmers in the Dakotas I have met hunting out there have told me that they need somewhere around 2,500-3,000 acres under cultivation to make their family operations economical.  That was at whatever crop prices were then.  With more acres under cultivation per farming operation, fewer operations are needed. 

Corn was at around $1.40 before the dock for moisture and trash in the fall of 2004.  Then it shot up, and has come back down.  It is in the $3.60 range for spot market now.

[Happy]

Spent a good part of my teen years working on farms and helping out. Mainly dairy farms and crops but for the most part they are all still in operation. Here in the mountains a big field would make the Midwestern boys laugh. That being said I have noticed that many have cut back on what they used to do and it's not all just economics. A lot of these farms have been passed down from generation to generation. The younger generation doesn't seem to have much interest in keeping everything going. They would rather sell off the land and make a quick buck then keep up with everything. It's true that it's hard for a small farm to compete in today's market but I think that's only half the issue.

[turkaholic]

My wife and I farm our land. It's a small 150 acre dairy farm that was run down and not in operation. We stuck our necks out to buy the place. It was over run with Russian olive and green briar. I had to shell out a lot of money for tractor and bush hog and wacked away at it for years. Then I picked some used hay equipment and off we went. The spending never ends, you have to love it a bit to keep up. We have quite a few large scale farms around us and our town is very pro farming. I also have watched the surrounding towns loose many farms with new houses springing up and some over run and not operational. Farms are important but I don't believe that tax payers should have to suffer for them. When I first bought this farm in 2001 the winter flock of turkeys was over 80 birds, there is corn ,rolling hills, fields and hardwoods. Now the flock has shrunk to about 25 to 35. I have to say the area is sweet and loaded with predators. I need to get to work on that.

[chadly]

I'm not a farmer but I live in farmland south central Iowa.  I have an old enduro motorcycle that I love to gravel cruise on in the evenings.  There is more gravel than hard surface in my area and I know the roads pretty good.  Iv'e noticed over the last five years or so the farmers doing very well.  I see additions on houses, new buildings, and new equipment all the time.  I'm frequently telling my wife I need to change occupations.  I know corn prices were doing really good and down now.  It used to be the farmers would rotate corn and beans every other year and after so many years it would go to hay for a period of time.  Lately its been corn on corn year after year.  Fences and natural water ways have been removed and replaced with tile to make more room for corn.  I've seen just the opposite here of what you have seen. 

[wvmntnhick]

Drew up on a working farm but my dad had gotten a different job so didn't really have to hammer away at it unless I wanted to. Didn't mind it but didn't love it either. My uncle still works the half they got after it was split up following the death of my grandparents. He and my cousin still hammer at it in the mornings and evenings. When my grandfather was alive, that's all he did. It's not as big now as it was operationally. Not as many cattle, sheep, goats etc. everyone wanted a "better" life than they had so they got other jobs. Can't say it's necessarily better but there are times I wish it was the way it used to be. I'd like to go back and do more than I did. Heck, I'd like to do it now. Teaching is eating me up. I'd rather muck stalls than deal with another disrespectful student.

[Mike Honcho]

Farming has become a big, big business.  Its hard to generalize farming there are so many types of specialized crops...tree fruits, vegetables, etc.  What I am most familiar with is the cash grain farmers,corn, soybeans , wheat etc.
During  the past few years grain prices were very high and most farmers made good profits. .  Now grain prices are much, much lower and most of these farmers are breaking even or losing money farming.  The equipment costs, seed ,fertilizer etc. don't  go down in price for the most part. One 50lb bag of seed corn can easily cost $400! A new grain combine$300,000 , a corn planter $ 150,000.  The technology in farming today would boggle the mind of the average non farmer.  GPS guides and autosteers  modern tractors and combines.   Yield mapping software records crop yield from the combine harvester and stores it in sophisticated programs to be used as management  tools to help produce higher yields in the future.
Our economy is greatly affected by the welfare of the farmer.  When grain prices are low and farmers are losing money, they don't buy farm equipment, in turn steel, rubber, hydraulics, electronics and many other businesses all suffer. John Deere and Case-IH and many other manufacturers have laid off thousands.  Today's modern farmer has to be a good businessman  and a model of efficiency  to survive.  I greatly respect the  American Farmer...if you are fortunate enough to get permission  to hunt on a farmers land make sure and take a minute to thank them for putting food on our tables.

[Roost 1]

If a farmer can't make it nobody can...
The biggest welfare recipient their is... Govt program after govt program that just hands them money... I  know because I
Live in a farming community, have many friends that are farmers, and I work in a farming industry.. I'm just calling like it is, I'm sure some won't like it.

[owlhoot]

They seem to be doing very well in North Missouri an Iowa.
Lots of new houses , buildings and equipment.
Lots of government programs.
Starting out would be rough though.

[OldSchool]

Sounds like things are looking better in other places, so maybe It's just the small dairy farms in this area. I do see a newer looking piece of equipment here and there, but on the whole, It's not looking good.

I didn't realise there were so many programs out there to help the farmers, all I know is what they tell me and what I see happening. I'm not smart enough to have the answers, I just hate to see what seems to be turning into a trend here.

Bob   

[captpete]

If a farmer can't make it nobody can...
The biggest welfare recipient their is... Govt program after govt program that just hands them money... I  know because I
Live in a farming community, have many friends that are farmers, and I work in a farming industry.. I'm just calling like it is, I'm sure some won't like it.

I have to agree with this. I live in Iowa and see it quite a bit/first hand. Any more you don't see small fields or very many fence rows. It used to fields were broken up into 40, 60, 80 acre fields...now a small field is 120 acres. I know a farmer & his wife that own a house in town, a cabin on the Mississippi river(it's nicer & bigger than the first house I owned) and a house in Arizona(they have to go there a certain number of times a year for tax reasons). 3 years ago they "had" to buy a new pickup truck for the farm or they would have been hit hard on their income taxes. They bought another new truck last year for the same reason. Oops, almost forgot to mention their $60,000 Corvette & the $50,000 daily driver Caddy. 

[owlhoot]

Sounds like things are looking better in other places, so maybe It's just the small dairy farms in this area. I do see a newer looking piece of equipment here and there, but on the whole, It's not looking good.

I didn't realise there were so many programs out there to help the farmers, all I know is what they tell me and what I see happening. I'm not smart enough to have the answers, I just hate to see what seems to be turning into a trend here.

Bob

Small dairy have been hit hard for years here too. Big OPs taken over. Lots of Regs. Go beef cattle. Row crops pay well even in a drought if you had the insurance subsidized by the gov. 20 bushels an acre get a check for 180 bushels at drought shortage prices. CRP at 122 an acre to watch the grass grow.

[Roost 1]

New program allows you to watch grass grow for a whole lot more than $122/acre.....