News: farmers killing themselves in staggering numbers

[ultrarunner]

Almost all the Farms in my family are no longer producing... some have been for many generations... Dairy mostly.

My cousin that inherited the family Dairy farm quit and went to work driving the bus for the city... clears more money, slew of benefits including retirement AND VACATION.

He also found the farm land to be quite valuable... richest in the family by far when all the forefathers simply made enough to take care of family and pass debt free from one generation to the next.

The one that is Organic Produce did real well for 25 years... it was a niche market with farm to table loyal customers... now, every market has organics... simply not profitable... that cousin now teaches school and her husband installs elevators which pays very well... his co-workers say it is hard work with long hours... he says it is a breeze... long hours and travel are paid nicely...

The one that is still Dairy has gotten bigger... as neighbors shut down they lease for pennies the fallow fields... they are still very small with a 100+ milk cow operation but plenty of work... also organic... veal is where their profit comes from.

The pig farmers simply could no longer compete with foreign pork... they raised a 1000 organic pigs on grain they grew...

The real money in farms is the Land...

 

[ovrszd]

Farmers are asset rich and cash poor. Wage earners are cash rich and asset poor.

 

[Sodo]

Farmers who are in too deep financially have been teetering on the edge for a many years. When they come to realize that to FIX their government, they INSTEAD elected an agent of big business; comes the realization that what was hopeless 4 years ago....is really hopeless now.

:confused3:

Big agribusiness is a hungry alligator that wants to eat everything, through no fault of its own, because it has no OTHER world view. Government should be supported, guided, enhanced, to protect people from this alligator, as one of the charter reasons to HAVE a government. There's also military, infrastructure, roads, hospitals, education, food safety, clean air, water etc. There are important jobs to be done by a trusted government that acts on the side of the people.

Government MUST "act" as the adversary of big business, on the side of the people. While at the same time, government must enhance commerce. If government actions restrict the food supply, of course that is a PROBLEM for example. When the people of a democracy can no longer see the need for both sides, and APPRECIATE (and govern) this balance of power between the two, a democracy can no longer exist.

WE see it everywhere. Big box stores running off local hardware stores, and grocery; even out of the small towns.

Cellular providers combining. Are we down to four now?
Energy providers combining.
Pharma/Health companies combining.
Insurance combining.
"News" providers combining.

There used to be a word for this. Monopoly. But the monopolies have even purchased the "news providers" and with news advertising (one leg focused upon rural America, the other focused upon population centers) have convinced regular people to abandon their government and support big business to "fix" the government. Fix for big business benefit, not for the farmer. The American public has fallen for this scheme hook, line and sinker. 20th Century Fox presents more than 50% of the news to viewers in the USA. Think about it. More than 50% of Americans rely on Hollywood for the information that they use,,,,,,, to VOTE the direction of their democracy. How can there be any surprise that the ultra-rich are gobbling up the farms?

There used to be controls on monopolies, but now the monopolies control our government, eliminating the controls, one by one, and at a dizzying rate in the last 2 years. Is there any surprise that a farmer in Africa, on an entire yearly income $100 per year must eat too, yet has some of that $100 remaining to buy a cellphone AND pay his bill? While in the USA it costs $300 a month ($3600 yearly) for the cellphone service alone? Cell service is MUCH cheaper to provide than maintaining copper phone lines, yet the price of service has skyrocketed. That's because we have elected legislators who work "for big business" not for us.

Forget the divisions imposed upon us. Forget liberal.vs.conservative, republican.vs.democrat. It's a ruse. On the Democrat/liberal side they keep shoveling the immigration and LGBTQ gay stuff out and those people fall for it (thus completely ignoring the big picture). On the Republican/conservative side they shovel out Guns and immigration crap and that crowd falls for their chosen aspects of the subjects. All the while, BIGGER changes go on, rich getting richer, which, make NO MISTAKE is gathering up the wealth of the middle class. It's EASY for a "news monopoly" to keep everyone divided, fighting and distracted while they pick everybody's pocket.

America was strong when the middle class was strong. Actually we still are strong but the writing is on the wall, it's probably too far gone. We fall one by one, and these farmers dropping out is a harbinger, just like small grocery, restaurants, service stations. Because farmers have to gamble their entire crop, EVERY YEAR,,,, when they fall they fall HARD (they're OUT). PLUS, each time a farmer fails, big agribusiness gains opportunity to purchase the land. When all the smaller companies, stores, providers, (and farmers) are gone,,,, it's really over. We're headed that way at an even faster rate, and it's our own fault for letting big business 'fix' our government (for them).

 

[radios1]

This is MY thread, I hope it don't get locked for Political discussions.. I give STAFF MY permission to delete any Political comments from MY thread..

 

[ultrarunner]

Even in my short 30 year tenure... I have seen compliance drive away many small business and even those one might not think of small business such as a Stand Alone Community Hospital.

There is some truth in the Too Big To Fail business model.

In my area... the never ending slew of new regulations affects Large and Small alike... just how many hats is a small business owner required to wear?

Large organizations will have one or a few dedicated Enterprise Wide which means the cost is spread out over 50,000 employees... a small office, clinic or stand alone community hospital simply does not have the size to spread the cost.

True... much is documentations, plans, manuals, policies and procedures... my Farmer Cousin is great at farming... not so good sitting in front of a computer meeting new standards.

Not long ago there was a story of a OBGYN that was the only Baby Doctor for a very rural county... delivered almost all the babies... she was required to go digital and asked for an exception... flatly denied... she was told the system cannot accommodate exceptions and she had to comply or close... she closed and now the county has no Baby Doctor...

My Dairy Farm cousin had to build all new stalls and infrastructure to meet new Regs... and they took on huge debt to comply... their neighbors went out of business.

So far... no one committed suicide... they adjust and have stellar land values to fall back on... not all have been so fortunate.

 

[Oldoak]

This is MY thread, I hope it don't get locked for Political discussions.. I give STAFF MY permission to delete any Political comments from MY thread..

I don't think they need you permission.

Besides that, anything to do with farming is politically connected , from dairies and milk pricing to farm subsidies and beef production.

 

[shooterdon]

We owned a 100 acre farm that we leased out. Every renter went belly up. None lasted more than 5 years. This was 50 years ago. Too small an acreage to make money.

When I was 12, my dad asked the family renting the place to let me work there for two weeks. No pay of course. It was to be a life lesson. It was haying season. Still remember the heat and smell of hay as we stacked it in the barn.

Decided school was a lot easier.

I felt really badly for those poor folks who let me into their home and failed. They were not lazy or stupid. A good lesson for a kid.

 

[3930dave]

By Christmas 2018, Canadians will be able to buy all the weed (MJ) they want, but they can't buy raw milk from a farmer.

You can now go to prison in Canada for providing raw milk. Seriously | Financial Post

Egan: Raw milk, raw deal? Farmer fined $1,5, quits milking operation | Ottawa Citizen

Farm processing of meat, and in small abattoirs was heavily prosecuted. Then, we get the likes of XL foods....

Inspection issues persisted at former XL Foods plant in 214: CFIA documents | CTV News

Small lumber operations in the Ottawa Valley were fined out of existence. Their crime ? Dumping (pure) sawdust in the bush <- the problem ? "It doesn't exist in that concentration naturally".

They come for your neighbour in the night..... and we do nothing....... so, we get what we get...... Corporate control of Everything.

Farming is tough enough, as well described in this thread, but these high level forces at work pretty much guarantee the complete eradication of small farms. And, "small" is a moving target....

Rgds, D.

 

[drssg]

We owned a 100 acre farm that we leased out. Every renter went belly up. None lasted more than 5 years. This was 50 years ago. Too small an acreage to make money.

When I was 12, my dad asked the family renting the place to let me work there for two weeks. No pay of course. It was to be a life lesson. It was haying season. Still remember the heat and smell of hay as we stacked it in the barn.

Decided school was a lot easier.

I felt really badly for those poor folks who let me into their home and failed. They were not lazy or stupid. A good lesson for a kid.

I don't have any data on making hay 50 years ago, but I would agree that 100 acres would be tough (too small) these days. My sister and I own some farm land that has been in the family for a few generations. It has been farmed by a farmer that works WAY more than just our property.

Using last years numbers, our land netted about $300/acre (total for the farmer, my sister, and me). This accounts for the expenses that are a direct part of farming that land, but it doesn't account for the massive cost of equipment overhead. To try to make that work on 100 acres would be $30,000 of income. It would be extremely tough to live on that AND payoff equipment.

Bump up the acreage substantially, and it starts to look more feasible, but definitely not easy!

In our case, the land itself is not a treasure chest. Everything around it is more farm land, so the only potential buyer would be a farmer.

 

[Wagtail]

Back to the subject at hand: Farmer suicide. <I'll paraphrase an article from this weeks Tasmanian Country newspaper>

"Farming can be a lonely job... There are few other businesses where your place of residence is also your workplace. As a result, any impact on your business, by default, has an equal or greater impact on your personality. For most businesses, if the operation fails, one option is to simply close the doors. If a farm enterprise fails, then it is likely that you will not only lose the business, you could lose your lifestyle and your residential home as well. The impact on the individual farmer, their family and personal relationships can be catastrophic."

Putting aside the constant battle with the price for product and all of the calculations that go into that yearly gamble... "The weather is a constant friend or foe, prices fluctuate, and the supply chain feels like it is colluding to take more and more money from the farmer's pocket." "Added to this you're faced with over-zealous bureaucrats (all levels of governments, no matter what their political colour), seem to think that regulating every aspect of our lives and every aspect of our business is their reason d'etre."

"When you are a farmer working the land on your own, for long hours, often in an isolated location, knowing you are constantly faced with this tsunami of challenges - none of which are of your making and most of which are beyond your control - it can lead to an assault on your mental and emotional well-being, depression and dark thoughts."

The conclusion of the article is to talk to your neighbour/farmer. Check on them to make sure that they're OK. It's all that you can do.