Farmers Too Big to Fail
I was listening to National Public Radio yesterday and an interview with a big mid-western farmer. This guy grows the same rotation of crops as many of our local, much smaller farmers do. Soybeans in the spring, wheat in the fall, corn the next spring. Over and over and over again. No deviation. Sure, they might have some fields in permanent pasture or hay, but that is basically it. Not much diversity there.
The farmer they were talking with plants 5000 acres using the soy, wheat, corn rotation and as usual, ordered next seasons seed last year, to the tune of a million and a half dollars. He is locked in to planting those soybeans this spring. The problem is that China, the largest buyer of United States soybeans, will not be buying our soybeans next year. This is in retaliation of the tariffs Trump has put on steel and many other imported Chinese goods. We are in the midst of a trade war which will probably be getting much worse. China has been smart and working on just this scenario for many, many years. They plan long term, unlike our country. Where have all the steel mills gone that we used to have in this country? China. What are all our cars and trucks and SUV’s made of? Chinese steel. Poor quality Chinese steel. Toyota recently had, yet another recall of SUV’s and Pickup trucks, assembled in America, but made of Chinese steel, because the frames had rusted clear through and were seriously dangerous.
If we get into an actual military war with the Chinese, what will we make our war machines with? Chinese steel? Think again. They have us right where they want us, dependent on them for goods we used to make ourselves. Cheap labor in China lured most of our manufacturing over to them and now we depend on China, and other countries, for many indispensable things. We cannot easily rebuild our steel mills and return to supplying our own high quality steel. How will we repair our bridges without U.S. steel? This has nothing to do with the unions, it has to do with the greed of the companies who moved out of our country, who do not want to pay taxes to help our country, who do not care if our own countrymen even have jobs. Our corporate tax laws and loopholes have enabled this to happen. Our banking industry has enabled this to happen. We are at the mercy of greedy corporations and now we are at the mercy of China and other foreign powers.
Back to the farmers who are locked in to growing soybeans for a non-existent market. The price of soybeans is bound to fall drastically with a glut of unsold beans waiting in silos. Russia has already announced that they will gladly supply China with their soybeans next year, so we can forget about getting that buyer back, even if the trade war were to end.
American farmers have become the latest business that is too big to fail. Just like the banks back in 2008. Are we now going to bail them out with our tax dollars? The farmer being interviewed did not seem to have any creative ways of dealing with his problem. He is so big, and so used to relying on the government telling him what to plant, insuring him against crop failures, subsidizing lime and fertilizers and farm improvements, that he no longer plans for himself. Every decision he makes is tied to cost sharing and the futures market and whatever the big agro seed and chemical companies are pushing. This is no way to farm.
Farmers need to be flexible, basing their decisions on weather, markets, soil health and the peoples needs, not blindly planting the same old crops every year because that is what they have always done. A good farmer looks at all the variables and weighs the cost of seed and planting and harvesting against what the market will buy. These big farmers seem to have lost their natural insight. Smaller farmers live somewhat closer to local market changes and have to scramble year to year to make their crops pay for them to stay in business. They have to be creative and come up with specialty crops that might bring in more money, even though there is more risk. Organic farmers practice this way of life and change their plantings based on what people want to buy each year, a market that is constantly changing. They work on improving the soil and therefore the health of their crops without having to rely so much on government subsidies. They also supply us with healthier food, not chemically laden food that endangers our health. We need to learn the true cost of raising healthy food and be willing to pay accordingly.
Our government agricultural programs have gotten so large and powerful that many farmers do not even try to plan for themselves anymore. They rely on the government to insure they do not go under, even if they make bad business decisions. They plant the latest genetically modified Round Up Ready seeds, then spray Glyphosate on our food crops, and pretend it is all healthy and good for us. It is dangerous to give up your individual power and allow the government and agro corporations to decide what you should plant and what the best management practices are. We will all be paying the price with our health down the road. Multi-thousand acre farming operations, heavily in debt, and dependent on bureaucratic subsidy programs, are not run with an understanding of the connections between soil health, plant health and human health. They are run as a big business. People need to return to thoughtful planning and being responsible for their own destiny.
Wendy lee, writing at Edgewise Woods, Gardens and Critters
My 500 Words Challenge, Day 6