In Farming: Are you fed up with people knocking our Farmers?

Question

Those affected by the floods and now the Foot& Mouth sceptre hanging grimly over so many heads again! They must be feeling singled out.

I couldn't help thinking how ill timed the Daily telegraph article was the other day (sorry can't remember which day) It was all about how things are starting to look up for Farmers, whilst on its front page it was reporting on the slaughter of cattle in Surrey.

I know the few give the majority a bad name, but that's the same in every field, (pun unintended.) If we as a NATION don't start to GET BEHIND our GOOD Farmers with a bit of SUPPORT and SOLIDARITY we will continue to suffer the consequences.

The pictures and films of those Farmers weeping, because of the suffering & slaughter was very moving. Those farmers I saw were genuinely compassionate about their herds.

What do you think.

(I'm officially a Towny with farming in my blood in case anyones wondering.)

Answer 1

Hi Jamino,

I concur, having farming freinds.

We are not too bothered about F&M here in rural Bedfordshire at the moment, as things mainly are arable

The biggest hiccup is that one of the £30,000 harvesters has packed up. No subsidy for that.

Oh, I know that a lot of farmers are seen as wealthy landowners with a nice car and farmhouse, but the truth is that we only can afford to pay ourselves enough to pay the bills these days.

I might sell the brown land for housing, and have a long earnt holiday. Just buy French bread and German beer.

It is cheaper than busting a gut working the land in England.

Or take to the boat, wander up&down the countryside & wave two fingers at it.

Answer 2

I think that the farmers must feel like they are at war - not with an opposing country, but with a disease that sweeps through the country and still does much more damage than can be explained. Losing lifestock means losing means to survive, but worst of all, it means losing hope.

Answer 3

In these times of trouble we are always reminded of the millions of pounds the farmers are losing each day.........In the good times we are never reminded of the millions of pounds they are making each day..........And when all the prices go up because of these farmer's losses, they never come down again when the troubles are over......Perhaps there is a moral here somewhere.

Answer 4

Jamino I wish there were more around like you and it is gratifying to see that most answers posted here so far support the farmers.

My husband and I,now retired and own/rent our farm,did farm for   almost 60 years. No other business I can think of right now, is so dependent on the weather, government, etc. and are the most vulnerable. Can't remember the year when prices were so bad for livestock and crops, many lost everything and sad to say, many farmers committed suicide. I  do not go along with that (self-murder) but it was due to feeling they had let down the family generations that went before them without losing the farm (pride). Many went into counseling to get through it. Bumper stickers reminded people not to complain about the farmer with their mouths full.

As someone stated, the ripoff comes at the grocery store. Pick up a box of cereal, which contains very little product yet the price is high.

An artical once came out that the contents amounted to a few cents but sold for dollars-and it was said that the farmer got about 5 cents for the contents due to the cost to raise the grain,same with livestock and meat prices

It is ironic that years ago the Wall Street Journal had a huge colum about the Grundy County,Iowa farmers being millionairs (we have some of the richest soil in the country) and true as that is, it is only true if you can sell it, otherwise, on paper, it means nothing..

Many, and I mean many have gotten out of farming and the younger generations are not going in to it seeing what it has done to their dads and banks no longer finance loans to get into farming which is so costly now beyhond belief.. The clown who bemoans farm subsidy needs to know that it does not go to the little guy but the investors (who never set foot on a farm)-get millions and own huge farms.

Do you know of anyone who would make a product and sell it for less than what it cost him to do so? No-but farmers do. Why-their love of the land is so strong but there comes a time...

I hate these long letters be they the Q or A but I feel passionately for the farmers. Can we blame them for selling out to cities so they, the cities, can expand into the real estate business.

May I thank you,who support us -you are smart enough to know the remifications of the loss of farmers and farm land and I bet you are happy that even though it is only a tiny percentage that will gain by the ethanal that comes from corn, will be a great help to farmers. Trouble is, we msut haver crop rotations,i.e. soybeans and corn,etc. for the sake of the soil and I am concerned famers will put most if not all in corn.

You can help greatly by educating friends who are ignorant about the cost of raising food.

Our farm land now sells for 3500 and up per acre ($500 when we bought it in the early 40's) so few young people can afford to get into it with machinery costing more than a good house though some farmers have  gone in together to buy it. thank you for your concerns.

Many kinds of jobs are stressful but farming is among the highest.

Answer 5

I grew up in Kansas and we were taught to show our farmers respect. They are great people. If you dont believe it try not eating anything that comes from a farmer for a couple monthes. You will starve.

Answer 6

Yes.  One US farmer feeds himself and 127 other people the last time I checked the billboard in Kansas.  They are the most productive, most underpaid people on earth, and they provide the safest food supply.  When we get a bunch of enviros involved in "organic farming", "animal rights", etc. it is the farmers who suffer.  the vegans don't understand that if we do not need and use animals for food we will have no animals.  I have yet to see one of them volunteer to allow a farmer with 100 cows to come slaughter the animals on their lawn because there is no need for them.

Our agricultural producers are supposed to follow all of our burdensome regulations, fight off "PETA", not use modern techniques and still compete with other countries that do not have these burdens on production.

Answer 7

Sorry to say this to you but, Our government controls are farms now..h**l half the farms are subsidized anyway..The government pays farmers not to put up crops..

Wow, just thinking about gets my blood boiling..

Indiana farmers, I mean real good ole boy farmers, are pretty much a thing of the past...Its mostly corporate farms now.

Its a d**n pitty.

Answer 8

I would love to see farmers getting a better deal in this country, but i think the supermarkets really s***w them over. From milk to meat they get a pittance whilst the big supermarkets make huge profits year after year and dont up the pittance they pay the farmers. they say it is processing costs etc. but i am very suspicious of that. We used to have a local butchers and a shop which sold local produce but now they have shut so the only nearby shop is a supermarket. i hate it but i get my food there. i do try to get local stuff when and where i can though.

Answer 9

you are always going to find critics of people that usually do good work when bad news happens

if they do good work they do not have to worry about this, just give it time and it will go away

Answer 10

Yes! Poor farmers are Always getting the short end and proftteers take the gravy and profits leaving the farmer all the grief and hardships producing crops and such that we must have.       Ask a farmer how much he gets for a loaf of bread that he produced the wheat for?  a very few pence'

Answer 11

I wish there were more people like you, Jam(If I may call u that)lol

Answer 12

This is a good question to ask, when there are a fair few questions in this section where people make generalisations about the land degradation caused by agricultural practices that they sometimes I suspect have never seen first hand - either the family farm or big businesses (probably just after a lunch of a meat salad sandwich, cake, piece of fruit and a cup of white with one sugar tea).

Answer 13

Everyone will have an opinion, especially when you out and out ask for it. A whole lot is said about farmers getting a kick in the teeth by vegans, vegetarians, ecologists, and animals rights people. I know, and some of the above realize, that like in anything, a few bad apples spoil the whole barrel. Folks that are currently being pummeled by rains/ floods, or searing from the lack of rain, or are downwind of hoof and mouth labs are more worried about how they will take care of their families than they are about who thinks that "They deserve it". The vast majority of people feel bad for them and say so in a whole lot of mail and editorials and communities get together for support at every level. Yup, there are a few big mouths out there. In a way I am one in that I will point a finger and hollar at those whose fertilizer and pesticides runoff into the water and the ocean. I hate the factory farm horror, putting animals in the can right at birth and giving them a life of h**l before brutal death. But I know that is not everyone in the meat producing community, just the notorious few. And I know that most farmers care about the land and water that is the basis of their livelihood (while the few knuckleheads destroy the water and land and sell poisoned products for their precious silver pieces). I realize that not everyone can have their own farm and raise their own food, our culture is not like that anymore and our great civilization moves forward. We owe that all to the farmer who raises our food and gives us the time to go to the stars and give us the base by which we reach for our greatness. Even though it is hard to see from looking at our sales receipts from the grocery store, food costs less now than it ever has in our history as people. Our farmers are due more and our praise needs to shown in more than the pat on the back. But there is still a lot for us, the farmer, to do in our own and that is to insure that after we are done putting our affairs in order that we get other food producers to do the same. I have worked with people (and only briefly I might add) who not only don't care but actually do blatantly illegal acts and then call their produce highest quality. What we have been finding in our imported products lately goes on here also. I have sought to insure that what ever I do will not leave a scar, will not be a questionable product. I have been a teacher in my own right and I pass on that goal, and ask others to do the same. Farming is one of those things that can be so rewarding, but can also end up being terribly tragic in what seems like random acts of god. Too often all you hear is the tragic, but if you ask a farmer would they do something else, they wouldn't need more than a moment to take a breath and answer.

Answer 14

I'm officially a villager and give farmers by 100% backing... pretty much because half of my friends are farmers (of all types) and I know their jobs harder compared to townies who find the height of stress not being able to get a frappachino in the morning.

Answer 15

no one loves and charishes the land more than farmers.  We are losing thousands of acres a day to suburbia.  Without us the world would starve and your food prices would be unaffordable if we did not advance our science and practices.  One farmer does feed 129 people.