Who ruined the American farmer?

The reactionary-democrat party which wants to make serfs of all but an elite group of politicians.

 

Whodunnit?

FDA, Conagra, Bayer, U.S. consumer, USDA, not necessarily in order.

We buy cabin grade while paying first class prices--mostly freight costs. Our food does not spoil anymore--the nutrients have been removed in the interests of longer shelf life and merchant's bank accounts..

We have reaped what we have sown-- as usual. Now what.

Have a block garden instead of a block party.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

Doesn't it take two to tango?

Wouldn't the American voter have a part since FDR would have gone on forerever (he died in office) since there was no limit in his day as to the numbers of presidential terms?

HankD

 

I grew up on a farm. There aren't nearly as many farms as there were in the 1960s, but the family farm is alive and well, in the whole scheme of what qualifies as a farm in the U.S. today. For the purposes of the U.S. Census, a farm is any establishment which produced and sold, or normally would have produced and sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products during the year, and yes, government subsidies are included in sales. By that definition, there are just over 2.2 million farms in the United States.

Farm production expenses average $109,359 per year per farm. Clearly, many farms that meet the U.S. Census' definition would not produce sufficient income to meet farm family living expenses. In fact, fewer than one in four of the farms in this country produce gross revenues in excess of $50,000.

According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the vast majority of farms in this country (87%) are owned and operated by individuals or families. The next largest category of ownership is partnerships (8%). The "Corporate" farms account for only 4% of U.S. farms and 1 percent are owned by other-cooperative, estates or trusts etc.

However, the term "family farm" does not necessarily equate with "small farm," nor does the term "corporate farm" necessarily mean a large-scale operation owned and operated by a multi-national corporation. Many of the country's largest agricultural enterprises are family owned. Likewise, many farm families have formed modest-sized corporations to take advantage of legal and accounting benefits of that type of business enterprise.

In spite of the predominance of family farms, there is strong evidence of a trend toward concentration in agricultural production. By 2007, a mere 187,816 of the 2.2 million farms in this country accounted for 63% of sales of agricultural products. That is according to United States Department of Agriculture 2007 census of the industry, and yes, that's an accurate term to describe what farming in this country has become. That slightly less than 200K farms represents nearly nine percent of the farms in the U.S. That means that the corporate farms aren't the only farms putting product on the supermarket shelves in great numbers.

There's still cause for alarm, however. Farmers are getting old. In fact, about sixty percent of the farmers in this country are 55 years old or older, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average age of a principal operator of a farm has increased from 54 years old in 1997 to 57 years old in 2007, that according to that previously mentioned census by the USDA. The percentage of principle farm operators 65 years or older has increased almost 10 percent since 1969, as shown in this graphic:



The graying of the farm population has led to concerns about the long-term health of family farms as an American institution. Where are the skilled agribusinessmen and -women going to come from in the next few generations? The declared death of the family farm is premature, but it's not too far from life support, either.