my farm subsidy rant! a plain language explanation of the ARC program & other USDA farm subsidies
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2020
- According to the USDA, we’re in the soybean business, even though all our land in planted in pasture! And if the price of soybeans falls below a certain level, the government will pay us for our (imaginary) soybean crop under the USDA’s “agricultural risk coverage,” or ARC farm subsidy program. This nonsense is just the tip of the iceberg. Join me as I rant about USDA farm commodity subsidy programs, the role of the Farm Bureau in lobbying Washington, and how this is all screwing up our country’s agricultural system.
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I'm not a commercial farmer but I am a landowner. I see one single problem across all industries in our economy. Government is favoring and supporting the largest business over small and medium ones. There should be a sliding scale of tax breaks and support programs favoring the smallest so that the largest get little or no support from the Government. The goal should be to increase competition in all industries by elevating more players. Competition made us great. We now seem to have an anti-competition bias. "Go big or go home" seems to be the current philosophy. Just my .02c.
Hi Daryl, starting in the '70's, "go big or go home" actually became government policy and the subsidies have reflected that ever since. Check out the wikipedia on Earl Butz, who was the secretary of agriculture under Nixon and a few other presidents. It's been killing off small farms ever since.
Totally agree!!!!! Please fight to the good fight. Dad pass in 90s but he would never sign for anything the government had part in! Now I'm not saying he was a successful! He done his very best! Just was never good enough. The government has done nothing but screwed this country when it comes to farming. I'm in a similar situation I want to farm our farm. I just can't in the location and keep our family fed!!. Hate it.
I think we can see the government has lost its way .
@@kurtappley4550 that sounds alot like socialism..ok im cool with that. So are you ok with subsidy for the poorest among us making 10 an hour? If not u are either an unaware idiot or a greedy fuck
@@JustaFewAcresFarm I'm not a farmer but I live in the middle of some Mississippi delta farmland. Around here, the running joke about big farm operators. (Question: Why is the brim of a farmers hat shaped like an arch? Answer: From looking in the mailbox for his subsidy check). And boy do they hate to hear that subject even come up at the morning coffee/breakfast hangout. One of the bigger complaints I hear on the subject is how these big farmers are taking advantage of or scamming the system. It goes something like this. There is apparently some sort of min and max acreage numbers involved when you file for this gov subsidy money. Like I said I'm not a farmer so I'm not positive on all the details. Anyways, each farm has an "entity" that they file under. These large farmers will set up entities breaking their farm up (on paper) so they can claim checks for different entities for their wives, their kids, or other family members so that they get multiple checks. They will go so far as to set up an entity for a 2 month old daughter so a check comes in her name as well. At least that the gist of it based on what a lot of my smaller farming friends are telling me. I enjoy your videos Pete, keep them coming.
"Subsidies" is welfare for people with lobbying power. The words are interchangeable.
Wow, Pete, you were at almost 1,000 subscribers 16 months ago, and as of now you are at 154,000. This says something about you and Hillary and how we feel about you. You provide a lot of value. Thank you for that.
that really is amazing! He makes great content and deserves it!
One month later? They’ve added almost 25k more subscribers. Simply amazing growth, and couldn’t happen to better people!
@@wildewaffle9790 They are wonderful; we need more people like them.
@@elizabethblane201 yes we do. It’s good for the world to have people like them. Especially when people like them are able to reach such a large audience. What they do is my goal and my dream. Someday, I’ll have a small farm worked by old, but reliable equipment too.
We'd all be better off with smaller government, on sooooo many levels.
At their most basic level many of these programs can trace their roots to the new deal programs of the great depression. Between the depression and the dust bowl many farms couldn't survive and if enough failed the food supply would be endangered. At the same time, also at a basic level people around the world were rising against governments because they were hungry and angry at the government. Farms can't be started and stopped like other industries they need to operate year round, they need to plant in the spring in order to harvest in the fall, so the simplest solution was to make sure all farmers always had enough money to scrape by. We all saw last year during the worst of the pandemic how people still panic when store shelves are empty, so farmers got record subsidy payments in 2020 to help them stay operating. The government knows that throwing money at all farms and throwing away spoiled food is better for the stability of the country than running the risk of empty store shelves.
As a 4th generation dairy farmer milking 100 cows I hate the fact that the government sets the minimum milk price which the milk company then pays me and I need state and government payments to then be able to make a living, but I fear at this point the system is so broken it can't be changed.
Crazy to see this a year later and have you say you're hoping to get a thousand subscribers - when you now have close to 100k! Love these videos and how practical, nuanced, and funny they often are.
I live in a rural area of Wisconsin, and I have heard farmers brag about the farm subsidies (welfare) checks. For hundreds of thousands of dollars! Yet hate people on welfare! I've done work for farmers that they're subsidies payed for! And I can't help but wonder where's my free money? The days of feeling sorry for farmers are over!
And it's only the really big farmers that get them! Small farmers see no help. The big farmers around here don't even really associate with the small farmers. They are the snobbiest snobs that ever did snob.
@@skittletitsmcskittles6498 this answers my question. I am surrounded by small dairy farms and was wondering if they were on welfare.
I’m in central rural Wisconsin. Been trying to run a small beef and crop farm for about 10 years. I’ve never seen a dollar from anyone and it’s a struggle. My full time construction job pays for my farming hobby. I can’t afford crop insurance, so if I lose a crop to a storm or drought, I’m SOL. Not all farmers get assistance from anyone
@@skittletitsmcskittles6498 100% wrong.
Great video. My father used to rant about the same thing. I know you like jokes… So, how did the farmer double his income? He put up a second mailbox 😂😂
I have always felt that way about these programs. They create dependancy on government, it's just like big pharma creating an addict.
Good rant, interesting to hear how your subsidies work.
I’m an Aussie farmer, we don’t get subsidies, we get tax breaks mainly, and also we get farm management deposits. FMDs mean we can put say $100000, away in the bank if we have a good year without having it counted as taxable income. If we have a below average year the next year, we can take it out and it becomes taxable income. So just a tax deferral, but very helpful.
Those FMD's sound like a great idea! Wish we could get them here and throw away this other mess.
I am a pretty small farmer. I would like to have one of the high tunnels for growing various crops. I've seen an ad that says the company's high tunnels will be paid for with a government program. So , I looked into it. And it's not true. What it is , is a program that will provide me with a government loan. Which I pay for. In return , all that I have to do is grow crops that the government tells me to grow. AND make my small farm available
for unannounced inspections by the government to make certain that I am indeed doing that which I have been told to do .
No thanks !! I'll make do without a high tunnel until I can afford to pay for one outright. If I see any government people approching my place , I immediately lock my barn , lock my front door and grab my shotgun ! Because they are not there to " help " me !
I farmed without subsidies for 8 years before finally quitting this year. You won't make it.
A small farm does not stand a chance now. And you are 100% correct The USDA is rooted firmly behind the coop farming industries.
You see it all through this covic19 scair by the mom and pop store having to close but walmart can stay open, I think it should be the other way around
yessir
@@larryspiller6633 big interstate corporations that exploit people and kill jobs can choke off and die
@@larryspiller6633 i've huffed waaaaaayyyyyy too much glue to read all that but cheers thanks for the dissertation
Not only is it Welfare; it's corporate Welfare! 96% of subsidies go to corporate farmers.
B.s,it's politicians ,trade wars,side deals to other countries.Food has to get on shelves, and consitently priced on consumer.Welfare everywhere is destroying capitalism,we will be government owned soon enough.
Many people are confused on the 'corporate farm' issue. Most farms are still family farms, though often structured to corporation for succession or liability reasons.
The majority of farm corporations are family owned! The Payment Limitation is not large enough for a public corporation to do all the paperwork and program compliance.
What is your definition of a corporate farmer? Successful family farms and some corporate farms are one in the same. All landowners do not physical do the work, there has to be large farmers to step in and do the farming.
Billy Bob Gates is the largest farm land owner in the usa
you nailed it square on the head. this "small farm, or new farmer" programs are an absolute joke
Discovered your channel a week ago and I'm addicted. Your presenting is amazing and it just makes me feel good, watching you. thank you. Love seeing you go up subs by thousands, too.
I just bought 15 acres in Missouri to start a small family farm. I subscribed to your channel because I feel that I can learn a lot from listening to you. Thank you for your efforts.
We are brand new farmers starting a regenerative farm from scratch. I've been researching gov programs that could help support our startup. So far everything has so many strings attached I'm scared to apply, and forget going certified organic. I agree completely with you on that controlling program. It seems like everything is designed to either control you or push you towards debt.
I’m oo lot better with
No, its a cheap food policy.
It’s all but impossible to go organic unless your neighbors also go organic
Avoid debt or government welfare. Strings always attached.
You won't make it. My farm lasted 8 years without subsidies but you will just not be able to compete with the price.
After a year subscribed to your channel I finally came back to watch your rant. As a retired farmer who was often frustrated with AFB I can agree with you totally. I accepted gov "subsidies" but never understood them and the ultimate purpose of them. Keep up the good fight.
You were close to a thousand subscribers two years ago. Now you're at a quarter million. Excellent work Pete. You deserve your success
Getting close to 1,000 subscribers? Man! Your subscriptions have gone up exponentially over the past few months, haven't they? Congratulations!
You Sir make good videos ! You have a clear way of explaining things that I can understand. I have a few stories that I could tell that would make a few non-farmer really angry. Thank you.
Thank you Theresa!
I love your channel, Pete and Hillary. I don't subscribe to many, but yours is one of them. You seem to me to be straight shooters and honest, and thoughtful business people/farmers. Keep up the good work.
I just found your channel and am enjoying it ! The small farmer has been getting the short straw for a long time I'm 76 now and I haven't been on the farm since I went off to the service in 1961 . While I was in service Mom got squeezed out by The Turkey Boys and we will let it set there ! The Big Boys have all the connections for them and the small guy gets crapped on ! I wish I still had a few acres but thats not going to happen now . just dream about it and get my 8n back together ,finale go it to start again !
We don't own any land but others let us grow on their land. Ask, you might be surprised.
Thank you for educating us on this topic. Central planning always ends in calamity.
Well said once again, I love listening to your "rants"....you are very knowledgeable and have great logic. If only more people thought this way!
I moved up here to Vermont sixteen years ago hoping to start a small farm such as yours. Unfortunately, about that time real estate prices boomed (then busted, then boomed again) The smaller, alternative farms were pushed out by endless supplies of second-home city dwellers who wanted to buy the postcard. I got work fixing up the old farms, or working on sprawling McMansions that seem like the Gilded Age ver. 2.0. I am 62 now, and gave up on the idea of farming about 10 years ago. This place has seen a lot of changes, and will continue to do so. The Midwest was settled by New England hill farmers after the soil played out in the 1830s. I will probably run some hens next year and possibly some goats to keep the bracken down, but it is good to see you persevere.
As far as the subsidies are concerned, I view it as a bribe to keep agricultural industries here . Otherwise we’d be getting beef from Argentina.
Another great video! Pete, your channel is a wealth of information, not to mention, the editing and sheer quality of them. Pete, the proof is in the pudding. This channel grew 1050% from 3/19-7/1. WOW, CONGRATS!
Wow, that is a surprising stat. Thanks Peter!
Pete, love your ranting and I can tell it makes you feel better by getting it off your chest. Like you, I know we’re my position stands when it comes to the government. I am just a lone guy who has little impact and no power. When younger, I used to stress but I just go with the flow. I am just a speck in overall picture. No power, no control, no control. Take care my friend.
Penalize industrial ag for ruining rural environments....take a look at what happened to Iowa family farm pork producers.
Excellent points and perspective! Please elaborate more on your perspectives on oversupply! 60% of what American farmers grow is exported today unlike in the past where we grew mostly for ourselves and exported a smaller portion. Because of this oversupply of certain commodities we keep having to find new markets compete at lower prices (depressing local prices as well). The whole system creates a race to the bottom where the US is winning but American family farms are losing, because it does them no good to be the part of a system that wins the race to the bottom of lowest prices.
I am in my sixties now but remember working on my grandfather's farm and one of the chores I did was mowing fence rows, ditches, and the yard around the house. I also would mow down a field of oats that was enrolled in the CRP{?} program every year. {We used that odd sounding green gear that bothers you so much.} My grandfather explained that it was the government program that tried to control over production of crops which affected the price in the market. I was surprised the government would get involved in what I have always been taught was a free market economy, my grandfather just laughed and laughed. He said they have meddled in everything forever.
One of the conclusions I came to later as an adult was that everything continuously evolves to a new level of being. That includes the family farm as much as I don't want it to. My family was a farm family for many generations and now there is none left on a farm anywhere.
I read an article once that proposed that the tractor was the beginning of the end of the family farm due to the expertise of some farmers and their efficiency gave them an advantage over others. That led to the growth in the size of their farms and the demise of the not so lucky or efficient farmer. The other cause was the difficulty of making money on the farm vs a job in town for the younger generations.
It is now on the level of a cultural way of life I believe and should be just as protected as any other cultural society way of life.
In March 2020 your at 1000 subscribers and today December 12 2020 and your over 62K subscribers. Crazy growth. And for the you tube work you put in you deserve the subs. Awesome. Keep it up, I enjoy your videos.
Thanks Dean!!
@@JustaFewAcresFarm 7months later you've double again. And I think every video is better than the last. The content your putting out is awesome. I hope the revenue from your youtube work affords you some luxuries.
Well, I ran across this channel when I saw a Gehl Bale in your "the basics of bailing & storing hay" video. Poked around your videos stash & made this my second viewing on your channel. You spoke the words that a good many of the rest of us small timers have uttered in the past.... minus some foul language. :vD On that note, you have yourself a new subscriber. Thanks for the great videos & keep 'em coming!
Regards!
As an aside, I live on the outskirts of West Bend & recall, quite clearly, the days of driving by the storage lot across from Gehl & seeing those balers waiting to get delivered. Nowadays, that lot is now apartments for the elderly, the old factory buildings, built back in the '20s, are now gone & there are some ugly apartments being built on that property. The big blue "new" Gehl building still stands on Indiana Ave. & is now the Manitou-Gehl R&D department, resided in grey. Suppose, they did put a fountain in by the front entrance. That's saying something, I guess. ;v)
I remember crunching those same numbers 20 years ago. It didn’t make any sense to me then and it still doesn’t today. You are 100% on the mark.
Used to be a farm on every 80 acres. Now there's a handful of farmer's with 4 to 5 thousand acres.
It is so hard to find affordable land because of it. At least 20k for .25 acre near me. With nothing on it
Farm subsidies prop up the price of farmland.
Average US farm size has about doubled last century to ~mid-400Ac (for those farming full time). Under 4% have over 2000Ac. infomory.com/numbers/number-of-farms-in-us/
What were you thinking?
I totally agree with this! Any time the government is involved, its a negative.
Depends on who OWNS the government... Us or the corporation...
Ok ..lets see the farmers who inherited their wealth turn the subsidy down..all while complaining they cant compete and hate unions n hate collective bargaining.. Because thats " commy"
How can a person making 10$ an hour, save up and get their own piece of the pie? Do you hicks even care? Nope cant see past your own wants and needs.
The farmer i know were BORN into it. They despise any social safety net that is not directed to them.
1 they are sheltered and clueless
2 they dont care and love a rigged game
Ahhhh America
Wow Jhon, so much to unpack and comment on there but I'm going to assume that any response I make wont change your mind or your outlook on farmers. So I will respect your opinion and move on.
Jhon Famo You sound like a union douche bag. I worked in union before. Everyone not in a union they called rats. Y’all can’t even think for yourselves. You’ve swallowed the Democratic pill who doesn’t give a shit about you.
Wouldn’t this be the fault of the farm bureau who lobbied and likely wrote the majority of the bill not necessarily the government?
Thank you sir. This was very insightful.
Great video Pete. I do not like the government picking the winners and losers in any industry, especially farming.The American Dream has always been based on an even playing field providing the equal opportunity for everyone. When the government starts messing with that even playing field, the whole market gets screwed up!
Thanks Dan! Our commodity system is definitely screwed up.
Nice to hear some truth about government and farming. I feel for the farmers.
ok... great breakdown on how subsidies work against the very thing they are there for. Well laid out Pete, thanks!
Good rant.
I like this rant cuz it basically holds the same feeling I have. Corn is only about 50 cents more expensive per bushel on the Chicago board of exchange the one I was trading at 25 years ago on the Mid-Am exchange. 10% of fuel put in gasoline engines in northeastern Illinois contain ethanol which is made from corn.
I've been watching a few acres farm videos now for about 9 months and I could tell you the last two crops I will grow our corn and soybeans. I will only grow oats as a cover crop for alfalfa and I will grow weed if I have a bunch of weeds in the field and I'm going to plow it under for green manure.
In Wisconsin Illinois Indiana Michigan Ohio, anyone who has 500 acres of no longer a family farm but a big commercial operation. You can't crab me coming at me with a thousand acres and tell me you're a family farmer. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bears or both owned by a family but they're not considered family businesses but Major League sports entertainment teams.
But playing devil's advocate: I just looked at a spreadsheet the other day which had basically the costs of raising corn and soybeans. For $22 per acre a farmer can insure $567 per acre of all its costs from direct to indirect costs meaning depreciation machinery repair and everything. It's kind of hard not to get this insurance when 5% can ensure the 100%.
I'll end my comment with this: I was told by a gas station attendant in Wisconsin 5 years ago about a farmer that was so big in Wisconsin having a illegal aliens work it that he could afford to spend half the year during the world and taking safaris in Africa. Family farm my ass.
THANKS! Great summation of ARC, I've been looking for a video like this for a while. Sounds like you are wanting more money for EQIP and CSP programs!
Wow Pete. You were just breaking 1k subscribers 18 months ago, and now have 161k. Great job. Love your content. -Ed
You are heard, also, thank you for speaking truth to power. Small farmers deserve fair wages!
Thank you for all your content Pete!
Love Your' work, keep it up NH
you're right..these programs simply delay the signaling mechanism that is the free market and removed the incentives for farmers to diversify and innovate.
Nicely done.... you deserve a ton of subscribers more power to you an honest farmer
We had a similar experience. We never raised corn, but the farmer who owned it before us did. Owned the land for 15 years and pastured beef. I was still getting quarterly forms for corn five years after I'd sold it. Get the government out altogether and you'll end corporate exploitation of farmland.
best explanation i've heard yet, Pete. I need to get a Iowa Hawkeye shirt sent your way :)
Pete very educational video
Where I live, most of the big farms would collapse with the farm subsidy payments. The small farms have pretty well disappeared. Now you have mega farms and mini farms. People with 5 to ten acres and then you have the farmers that farm thousands of acres. Most of theirs is rented, so they have no sweat equity in the land. The land here is rolling and highly erodible. When you hear people say that no till farming is not eroding the soil they are full of crap. But they rent they don't own so if it washes away and you have huge gullies then you pull out around them and let them wash and move on. The big difference is usually owners take care of the ground they own and renters could care less what could care less what happens to it. My Dad's farm was too rolling to row crop and when his health was too bad to continue with his cattle farm he tried to put his ground in one of the farm programs to take it out of production and they told him that his was not in row crop so it was not eroding enough. He told them he never let it be row cropped because it would all wash away, and they said Yes, and that is why you cannot get a subsidy for taking it out of production. Meanwhile all the farms around him were going into the CRP programs. Go Figure!
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! PETE.
Excellent tutorial
Factory farms are killing the small to medium farm. The big ones refer to themselves as businesses not farms. We need the small farmers. We also don’t need the large slaughter houses and processors that make an obscene amount of money. Know your supplier.
I worked for a farmer when i asked him about his government payments in a joking manner, he turned to me and said F*** the government I don't in enroll in any of them I would rather die, I was like MURICA! The government needs to get the hell out of farming all together, stop taxing farmers and they should and farms would be fine.
@@dustinryan9671 Stop taxing farmers? LOL Then who should pay taxes? Why are farmers special? They are businesses. They should not even be subsidized. Can they survive on their own just like any other business? Yes? Great. No? They should fold, plain and simple.
Small farms are fine. Locally own butchers are fine too. For this concept to work 50 million people would need to leave their jobs and move to rural America to produce enough food to replace modern farming and mechanized agriculture. Not going to happen.
We all need to support our small local businesses.
@@baxakk7374 your point is logical but not realistic. If we let farmers fail the ones left will farm all the land. Not many new farmers coming into the business. Cost too much to get in and insane amount of capital to operate. Small farms are fine but can’t replace big Ag. No way. There are 330 million people in US. Small farms might seem cool but we’d starve without big ag. There would be riots over food.
If you take Government out of farming. The good farmers will rise and the poor farmers will have to find another way to make a living. Just like any normal business.
Agreed, Cory!
Thats right..the massive 3rd a 4th generation mega farms would cut prices to destroy the small guy. Like a walmart. Lots of share croppers and a few owners. Its the conservative dream.
@@JustaFewAcresFarm ok. It wont matter " how good " the little guy is. Lol.
Go on and vote for yourself and not the broader community. Im not a farmer but i have a idea to help you all. Not original but it could work
Not true. The Big Ag groups are heavily funded and diversified in their stock holdings. What is needed is an overhaul of the Farm subsidy programs that would eliminate subsidies based on overall profitability of each farm. The problem isn't "Goverment" it's WHO is in our Goverment. Period!!!
The GOP has convinced Farmers to vote against their own best interested for 40 years, they have now done the same thing to Union Members. Hell they have convinced small business owners that they too can be one of them. Haha.
We absolutely NEED to overturn the Citizens United decision, end Gerrymandering, publicly fund all campaigns, and institute the use of ranked choice Voting, using mail in ballots so that there will always be a paper trail that can be accessed by the voter to insure the integrity of their vote. All Registered voters should be sent a pro & con abstract prior to ALL elections.
Great channel!
I agree with every point you made. There is too much overproduction of corn and soybean. The environmental impact is just as terrible as the impact on farmers. Government needs to stop micromanaging the economy and focus on a sustainable long term plan, while undoing the last century of inflation.
Good perspective, thx.
Larger farm business attract greater subsidies that help to produce cheaper junk food creating a population with metabolic syndrome that give good business to big pharma.
Now covid19 is ready to solve the problem acting as a natural selection.
Thanks Pete, that was a great information.
In Mexico we don't get enough payments for our crops,because is cheaper importing for US.
As you said, the future will be in the small farms!
Thank you for the video.
New favorite youtuber
100% agree with you. I’ve always been frustrated at commodity subsidies, ever since I learned about them in high school economics. Government has never been successful and really alleviating market fluctuations. In fact, the less the markets are centralized, the more nimble and flexible they are. Yes, farmers on an individual basis may struggle and that’s really heartbreaking but look at the devastation that we’re seeing because the government kept pushing and pushing and pushing centralization with their subsidies and encouraging of big agriculture. Now the economy is not robust at all and there’s gonna be a lot of people struggling in short order. I think this is the year of the small farm. I really hope that we the people can rally around small farmers and push Congress to get their nose out of this disaster of a project they started.
You sound like Joel Salatin! His book "Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal" is eye-opening about government regulations. Keep up the good work! Perhaps the tide will turn and the small farms will be the wave of the furture.
Thank you Pete! Rant away my friend, rant away!
👍🏻🙏🏼✌🏼🚜
Agreed on subsidy for extreme weather events, especially since they will be becoming more and more common. Additionally what we really ought to be encouraging is food production, not necessarily crop production. You cant really eat field corn or soybeans without a lot of additional processing and energy investment.
I will say, we have had great experiences with our local NRCS. Including a small grant for invasive plant management with our goats and reforestation to offset free loss from the emerald ash borer.
Corn can be made into corn bread with no more processing than it takes to turn wheat into bread. Fresh cornbread made with freshly ground cornmeal is delicious!!!
Point well taken. Although one should not rant about not making ends meet while only farming 45 acres. There are certain scales of economy that need to be achieved by any business. All successful farms have to reach this . You choose the size of farm you have and make the necessary changes to get there. On my operation it is 1200 acres. On other farms it’s 12,000 acres. But you must reach this level so you’re not doing it for nothing.
I received zero from the feds. I got a small school tax break from the local government which was to slow down the sale of farm land to developers. Otherwise they would tax my land at maximum potential value and make growing crops impossible.
Merced County in California it’s almonds!!!! Everything is almond orchard!!! We are always in a drought here and the “farmers “ here are ripping out everything and planting almonds. Drilling more irrigation wells!! It’s really sad. You explained why very well. Thanks again Jim!!!
I've read about that, Anita. Almonds take a crazy amount of water to grow. Makes no sense, but most of our ag system doesn't make sense.
Interesting to know Anita. I've looked at Merced County in California as an eventual winter retirement home location. Mainly because of the weather, but also because it is a farming area compared to other parts of California. I've got many years to go before retirement if I ever get that lucky. Watching these videos makes me want to trade the "9 to 5" off to go back into the old family profession.
The same water California farmers are using to grow crops in the desert cost over 25 times as a drinking water in Los Angeles.
Who is eating all the Almonds? Might it be the same people who are waiting in a line a mile long wrapped twice around a Chick Filet to get some nuggets for this kids? Farmers are growing more Almonds because that is what the market is calling for just like Perdue and Tyson are growing chickens to supply a growing market for chickens. It’s just dumb math to think that small farmers can step in and replace modern agriculture. I’m not against small farmers. We need more and applaud anyone who does it but this nation can’t survive without modern farming and big agribusiness
I keep it simple and blame Earl Butz for how the US farm economy is structured.
whole lotta people and corps maintaining the status quo, blame them too
thanks for this rant! well said.
If only the gov would watch this program and actually listen to reason instead of greed then maybe....arghhh!!!!
Hi 40intrek, yeah the government's never going to come around, and the Farm Bureau never will either. This virus outbreak & how it's affecting our food supply may help people see the importance of keeping small farms viable though.
Greed in what sense? As far as I understand, they are pretty much feeding the farmers like welfare, no? It's the farmers who are greedy in that sense wanting more and more subsidies.
Interesting to hear you say it will never change, even though it distorts the whole picture, we thought the same way then overnight back in 87 everything changed, no more controls and interventions, subsidies, the lot all gone, couple of weeks of doom and gloom, a few, in the main who were farming the support payments went under but most came out of the adjustment better off and no one wants to go back, result some of the best farmers in the world, growing what the market wants and will pay for, even if we have to operate in markets distorted by schemes and manipulation, if New Zealand can do it you can.
I subscribed because of this episode. Very brave to say.
a great video.....truly...
Good rant, I will watch all your videos. But OTOH, farm subsidies is an extremely complex issue. With food, it's good to have excess, reserve capacity to grow more as needed. We can't do "just in time" manufacturing with food. Anyways, please keep making videos, very enjoyable to watch whatever topics you discuss. Very likeable persona.
It really only helps the largest corporate farms
You’ve hit the nail on the head.
Yep trying to get into farming and the land prices are keeping me out.
Well said Pete
thanks fdr
So interesting to get it direct from the farmers mouth off the his farm, a uk country viewer
Thankyou for this informative vidio , Saddly are government dose this paperwork for every thing and the language is not for the commen man . In today's climate in politics I can see they are not much for the regular folk .
In Utah sincerely
Yup I know how it works and I dont like it .( I am a small farmer )You can not really farm without the hand out but I do wish every one farming would admit this , at least to them selves ,It is no different than being on the dole funded by tax payers and most farmers hate seeing people get something for noting .
I admire how you reset your blood pressure , by moving around the farm.
I have worked in agriculture for 80%+ of my adult life. Farming is no longer about raising food and consumables of sustenance, which by definition is agriculture. Farming is about growing currency. Only the humble would seek to be in agriculture if there was no monetary velocity to exploit. But this is the reality we live in. The coming landscape changes to our economies is going to alter these markets even further. While my recollection of $2.62 corn prices in the early 1980's is still fresh in my mind, so is our inflationary state of currency manipulation. With corn below $5.00 we have seen a doubling of price, but a larger decline in the strength of the dollar than the gains of the commodities. In the mean time while government fixes our grain prices, that same government allows the private FED to print money and raise interest rates putting the farmer farther behind by devaluing their savings. Until farmers start growing food for direct to market sales like agricultural origins, the big winners in agriculture will be those who fix the rules. Cheers.
UA-cam is such a resource for learning. I wish pete were my neighbor but ill settle for a subscribed channel.
When I was a kid we did market gardening on two acres and made a good living at it...So when life gives you lemons just make lemonade...Too many times people want the government to bail them out when they can't figure out how to think outside of the box so we the taxpayer have to bail them with some fancy farm welfare system no matter what they call it cause free money is just free money and in my book that's farm welfare
Another good discussion. Didn't the farm bill originally start during the dust bowl era where the SCS, now the NRCS, help for soil erosion research? Then it grew into ethanol and food stamps and all this crop insurance stuff? If you let farmers compete with each other and keep foreign commodities out by use of tariffs, then each farmer will only sell based on how efficiently they can harvest their crop. Farmers are so use to this payout that they say they need it but if the people pay by use of taxes already, I would rather pay the farmer at the supermarket than the government through taxes. And most likely, it will cheaper paying the farmer than the government. As for small vs. big farmers, we see this with stores. There are other options for the small farmer such as farm co-ops and farmer's market to help.
Thanks for the video. Your barn in some ways looks familiar. We built a barn last year, 32x88x16 tall with eve lighting. Ours is white, green roof and green wainscoting, doors on the ends and one on the side. We also make square bales of hay and like you, we use a baler with a thrower and kicker wagons. Our doors are high enough such that we can park the kicker wagons in the barn, out of the weather to unload later. What size is your barn? We also have some farm videos on our channel. Later this year, I’m going to do a video about our barn and one showing the construction of a kicker wagon. I would be interesting to see a video on your barn how and why you built it, as well as one on the design of your kicker wagons. Take care!
Hi JHJ-Farm, our barn is 50x80x16, with 14x14 doors on either end. We originally planned it so we could pull all 4 of our wagons in loaded, and stack the hay on either side of the center aisle. But 2 years after building it, we switched to making round bales. It still works good for storing those. We were looking at making 4-6k squares per year, and it was getting to be too much for us to unload. I use to rebuild kicker wagons in the winter, and came up with my own design to make them sturdier. Now they just sit in the field, and I use a single flat top wagon for loading round bales. I'll check out your channel.
The Constitution, to my reading, does not allow for Federal involvement in farms. States can meddle all they want. So can counties, parishes, municipalities, villages, et cetera.
The majority of the politicians don't know must about small farming. Like lots of subsidies they depend on the Lobbyists. I sorry I think it is wrong that a farm can get a subsidy on a crop which they don't or haven't grown in years.
I think it's messed up too Larry.
The problem overall is that the industry has been taken over by large-scale industrial farming - and they control who gets money and how the laws are crafted. It's plutocracy.
The majority of the politicians don't know much about anything they pass laws on.
The majority of farm subsidies go to people living in places like Manhattan.
@@CharlesWT-TX Or worse! A large portion of those Pork subsidies that Trump paid out, during his stupid tariff wars, went to Brazilian investors! Not one penny of any subsidy should leave the United States. Period!
@@CharlesWT-TX Also just look up That woman that was a Senator for a minute in Georgia. She literally collects farm subsidies for a farm in either Indiana or Illinois. She's married to the Owner of the New York Stock exchange! Tell me she's not running a scam!?!
If you think about it, Mega corporations don't want to deal with alot of small businesses including farms to reduce paperwork. Big Government has more control over agriculture. If there are fewer farmers. If the farms are big, then the farms has to have to borrow money to make purchases such as for equipment. If there is always a huge surplus then food prices will be lower for consumers. Most of these groups spend alot of $$ to bribe politicians, aka: political contributions and seek regulations to prevent new competition from being able to establish and take there market share away. I am just getting started.
I watch your show all the time and I really enjoy it keep up the good work and I scribe to you and I still would like to see you set up at the market
Thanks, look back a few videos and there is one at the market.
I am late to the party. However, I am concerned about foreign-owned businesses
purchasing American farmland. In particular I am concerned about Chinese
and Middle Eastern and/or Russian potentates/oligarchs having control of
food production in this country.
I totally agree with you about farm subsidies favoring the large "factory farms"
(not sure if that is the right term) vs. the smaller family owned farms. The
closure of family owned farms has resulted in the depopulation of many
viable communities linked to farming.
Full disclosure: I am not a farmer or rancher.
Mate you make bloody good videos. We have a new gehl baler then yours but your baler is relatable to ours. But more people should subscribe to you
We have a similar problem north of the Border but we have quota systems it helps by stopping people from over producing but the quota on chickens 100 laying hens 100 Meatheads if you go over on laying hens the quote is $300 a hen it's really hard for a little guy to start here
Farm subsidies don’t help the farmer. It just makes everything more expensive. Inputs machinery land etc. Just like this green new scam that was just passed. The price of electric vehicles will go up commensurate with the amount of the subsidies so it just helps the manufacturers and not the consumer. Same goes for the solar subsidy where you can get a 30% tax credit for installing solar so all of the installers know this and build that into their pricing so the consumer pays more and the manufacturers and installers stick the extra money from the taxpayers in their pocket. It’s quite a racket.