Let me start by explaining what the NAIS is. It is a government-controlled program that will require livestock owners to document everything that happens with their animals. Each animal will be microchipped and assigned a 15-digit number. The first 3 numbers will be the premise number for your farm and the remaining 12 will be the animal’s number. This may not sound too bad considering that the animal’s history will be known, but it’s a horrible program.

Here’s why: If, for example, you have 5 horses and you want to take them to a nature trail, the rodeo, a livestock show, or something of the like, you will be required to go online within 24 hours and document in detail the reason why your animal left your property and provide each 15-digit number. Or, let’s say you have 500 calves and you are going to sell 100 of them. In 24-hours time, you will have to provide the 100 15-digit identification numbers, provide the name of the sale barn, and give a detailed explanation. If you inoculate your herd, you will have to provide all the information complete with a detailed explanation.

The other issue is the cost. Each animal will cost approximately $15. Not only do you have the initial cost for all of your animals, but you will have the added cost of each animal that is born under your care. On the flip side, places such as Premium Standard and Cargill will not be required to microchip each one of their animals. Instead, they will have one number designated for each of their barns, requiring only a one-time cost. If 5 of their sows die, they will simply report that 5 sows died. They will not have to provide 5 different numbers because their animals will not have individual numbers.

We really need to think about this. It will be devastating to those of us who are trying to make a living. The next time you’re eating a $20 steak, make an effort to call your representative and tell them that you are against NAIS.

I will have more information shortly that will further explain this destructive program. In the meantime, look to see who packages the meat you eat. You will be surprised to find that much of it comes from the same place. These places are detrimental to you, your children, your friends and relatives, and everyone else who eats them.

Until next time, Happy Farming (at least for awhile).

1. What do farmers wear?

Well, this is a question with many answers. We mostly wear overalls, yes, overalls.  That’s not just a saying, you know. If we run out of those, we wear jeans. We—meaning not me because I hate being hot—always wear long-sleeved, button-down shirts because we’re in the sun all day long. It is actually cooler and it prevents burning. My father-in-law has several spots of skin cancer on his face, hands, and the back of his neck where he is not covered by clothing. We have to have ball caps on to prevent face burns, and during the hottest months they wear straw hats. We wear ropers instead of tennis shoes to protect our feet from cows stepping on them or hogs biting through tennis shoes.

In the winter it’s basically the same, except we have full-body coveralls and they usually wear ball caps that have wool covers to go over the ears and neck and t-shirts under the long-sleeved shirts. Our winter coat of choice is a Carhartt. They’re usually the warmest and easiest to move in.

Then, on top of all that, we have to have mud boots that go to our knees. It gets deep around here. We also have wool gloves, leather gloves, leather gloves lined with wool, thick cotton work gloves that we buy at the co-op, and gloves that fit inside of gloves.

That’s basically it in the clothing department, but it’s enough. Just to buy coveralls for all of us for the winter costs $300 or so. Overalls cost $40 a piece and we wear them out like crazy. Coats are around $70 and each of us usually goes through at least 1 a year. We use gloves like water and the 3 of us probably spend $100-$200 each year. Mud boots, which last about a year each, cost $75 a piece. Ropers are $130 and luckily they last about 2 years. Shirts were costing $15, but we started going to the Goodwill store and we can usually find them for about $4 each. That’s helped a lot. Hats last several years and they’re like $10-$15 each, but we have numerous hats. The wool hats are around $30 and straw hats are $25 or so.

One important thing is that you don’t want to wear baggy clothes. They get caught in the machinery and we know many, many people who have lost fingers and limbs that way. My father-in-law had to have 44 inches grafted from his leg to the upper part of his arm because he got caught in the grinder gears.

2. How much does it cost to buy a farm?

            The cost of a farm depends on the seller and location. Land around here is around $2,000-$2,500 an acre, but I’ve also seen it sell for $3,500 an acre. If you want 200 acres, which is a very small farm, you would expect to pay $400,000 plus interest for the loan. Most land comes in tracts of 80 acres, and usually comes in 2 tracts that are together. 160 acres would cost $320,000. Then you have the taxes associated with it, which also all depends on the county. I found land for sale in Nebraska, 160 acres, for $556,000, which is almost $3,500 an acre. If you are looking for a farm, expect to pay at least $2,000 per acre.

3. How many acres can you plant an hour?

            You can plant an average of 6 acres per hour.

4. How much do farmers make per year?

            I have had this question a lot. The answer is simply nothing. The money we make goes toward corn, mineral, loan payments, and so on. I will be putting up an income and expense list after the first of the year if you are really interested in knowing the ins and outs, but I have to finish our books for the year and I can’t do that yet. Look back in a month or a little longer and I will generate a somewhat itemized list and post it.

5. Cost of tractors then and now…

            Oh, I like this question! How interesting! Well, I can tell you that I can get this answer. I’ll talk to my father-in-law and get some costs from the 40s, 50s, and so on. He likes to talk about this stuff anyway. Look for this in the near future. I’ll try to do it this weekend and get some info together. Kudos to whoever did a search for this!

6. Deductions for farm equipment, including pickups

            I have all of the calculations for this stuff but I’ll have to get it all together. I’ll post this in the next couple of weeks.

            Those are the questions I have had so far. I hope it’s helpful. I will get the stuff together for those few questions I couldn’t answer right away and post them shortly. Please keep checking back for new information. I have so much that I could tell everyone but it will just take awhile to get to each topic. If you have something pressing that you really need to know right away, just let me know.

HAPPY FARMING!

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            So, today I want to talk about something that’s a little off subject, but still applies to farming in a way. I had always heard people talking about the Bible and that it says that the rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer. Well, I had not found this passage myself, so I was just thinking that this was one of those things that people had interpreted and that it probably didn’t say those words exactly. However, I was wrong! We were in church a couple of Sundays ago and the gospel was from Matthew. It was that story that I had heard so much about that the priest began to read. I couldn’t believe it. How could greed be so overpowering that it was even in the Bible? I’m still thinking on the subject, but here is the passage from the Book of Matthew.

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing an additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

            ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I know that most people do not believe every word of the Bible. I know that the stories and parables are supposed to be teaching tools. I understand that these are lessons that we are to heed so that we can become better people. BUT, there it is in black and white. Do you really think that people who are poor have the ability to invest their money? I know we can’t spare a cent to put in a CD or the stock market. Even my savings account only earns ½% of interest. Honestly, I’m not making any money off of it.

            Now, the other point I want to make is that we work hard every day. Just today I fed my pigs, ground corn in the mill, fed the cows, helped fix the tractor tire, made dinner and supper, washed dishes and laundry, worked on my presentation for class, took care of the puppies, checked 2 ½ miles of fence, helped my husband put a new starter on the pickup, cleaned the grass off of the Brush Hog, fed the bulls, loaded sows that are about to pig and moved them to separate pens, fed hay, and I think that’s it. I’ve done so much that I can’t remember it all. And when I say I ground corn in the mill, that means I shoveled it out one shovelful at a time into the mill. Plus, when I say I fed the cows and pigs, that means I hauled 5-gallon buckets (somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 buckets) to them one at a time. I’m not talking about easy labor here. And to say that since I’m poor I’m going to become poorer, then I say we have probably the best work ethic of anyone I know. We work hard, don’t bother anyone, and really believe in what we do. We know that our job comes with demanding work and we enjoy doing it. However, don’t tell me that I’m going to become poorer because it’s people that work hard that should be rewarded for their effort. We (and you know if you work hard or not) should be the ones who are rich.

            This is just my opinion. Feel free to disagree with me. But, one last point I want to make is that the rich have corrupted our world. The greed that I see in people every day has caused the economy to go to pot. Life isn’t all about money, and you can’t take it with you so why do you need it so badly? You’re not a better person, you don’t impress me, and I think it’s the people who have less that are better people characteristically. They don’t strive to stab people in the back and they would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. I grew up with money. My father is a lawyer. I know how money changes people. They forget who their friends are and they conveniently overlook the fact that those were the people that made them who they are and got them where they are today. Money ruins people! It’s not worth it and I would rather be poor and a good person and a hard worker than be greedy and a person who walks all over others.

And FYI: For those of you who were waiting for the information about the CAFOs and how many there are in each state, I am still working on a understandable format to post it in. I have it done and just want to make sure that it will be easily read. If it’s not decipherable, it means nothing to you.

Hope you had a HAPPY EATING Thanksgiving!

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            My aim today is to educate you on the different companies that have factory farms. One of the most recognized is Tyson. They have thousands of chicken farms around the country that house millions of birds. Like the hogs I talked about yesterday, they pump them full of hormones and antibiotics and even debeak them within days of being born so they don’t peck each other. There are so many of these chicks that they just dump the ones they don’t want in a dumpster while they are still alive and leave them there to die. If they can dispose of thousands upon thousands chicks in this way, then they obviously have too much money! They’re throwing away profit, like throwing money in the trash, and it doesn’t even bother them. It costs these companies so little money to make a chicken patty or chicken nugget, but it costs us a lot of money to buy them in the store. If they can throw money away, then jack up the price for the consumers, they why do they really need our money? Honestly, most people could buy some chickens from a local farmer, take them to the butcher, and they would have less money invested than if they bought it packaged in the store. Plus, if you do your homework, you know for a fact that you are getting good poultry that is what we call “organic,” free from hormones, antibiotics, and has been able to live a free-range life (without having its beak cut off).

            I have to mention here that there are some fast-food places, like Sonic, and restaurants that refuse to buy chicken from companies that practice the art of debeaking. We need to support these places. They may be buying from places like Tyson, but they are moving the right direction by repudiating the inhumane practices of these factory farms.

            Land O’ Lakes is the 14^th largest hog factory in the world. Five firms—IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, National Beef, and Packerland—control 83% of the U.S. beef packing industry. Seven firms—Premium Standard Farms, Smithfield, IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland Industries, and Hormel—control 75% of all U.S. pork slaughter. Six firms—Tyson Foods, Gold Kist, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, ConAgra, and Continental Grain—grow and slaughter 58% of all U.S. broilers.

            There are both dairy barns and beef cattle barns. Here’s a question for you. If you cut yourself and went to the bathroom to clean the would, then put something like triple antibiotic ointment on it, would you lick the triple antibiotic off before you put your Band-Aid on? I don’t think I would! At dairy barns, they give cattle steroids and hormones to make them produce more milk. Then, what they do is milk and milk and milk them until they wear sores on their teats. (Moms, I’m sure you can understand this.) This is called mastitis. They treat the sores with an ointment, then—and this is gross—they milk them. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a milker, but it completely encompasses the udder. Everything that’s on that udder gets mixed into the milk. Milk, dirt, poop, ointment, and all. That’s what you’re drinking. Be right back…I’m going for a glass of milk. I’ll let you know how it tastes…like CRAP!

            Please pay attention to what I’m getting ready to say. It’s very important! We inoculate our calves and piglets once a year. Each calf, unless it becomes sick, receives one shot at our farm. It contains preventatives for seven different diseases and illnesses. We must give these shots so that we don’t lose any of the calves, because, believe me, we work a lot harder than the idiots at the factory farms. One calf to us can be devastating and cost us a lot of money, time, and labor. Once the calves receive the shots, we are prevented from selling them for a minimum of 30 days. If we sell them before this time is up, portions of the vaccination can still be in the meat and dangerous to humans who eat it. Well, these factory farms “conveniently overlook” the regulations, which are printed right on the bottle with the word “WARNING,” and process the ham, chicken, or beef within the recommended 30 days. Remember, I said “conveniently overlook”; they are fully aware that they are not to process the meat until the 30-day period has elapsed. THEY DON’T CARE! I can’t stress this enough! They are concerned about getting the maximum dollars from the animals. THEY ARE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE CONSUMERS…US! We are the ones who buy their products so they can stay in business; however, they don’t look at it that way. ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS THE DOLLAR! Not the animals, not the consumer, not their workers. GREED—GREED—GREED!!! It’s companies like this that are running our country into the ground.

            I don’t know about you, but it infuriates me when I purchase something under false pretenses. I expect that when I buy something, it is being represented to me in a truthful way. These companies are misrepresenting their products. They don’t have warnings on their boxes that say, “This product may contain substances that are unfit for human consumption.” They don’t say anything. To me, that is falsifying your product and straight out lying. We also have to realize that these antibiotics, hormones, steroids, and whatever else they inject, are causing health problems for people. Think about what steroids do to people who take them. They alter their bodies in many ways. So, this can’t be good for us.

            Here’s some homework for you. I want you to find a picture of the oldest football team you can. If you’re an adult, it may be the team from your high school years. If you’re an adolescent, Google a picture. Then compare it to your current local team. Do you see a difference? You should. Look closely. Most of the men in the older picture are of a standard body weight. Comparatively, they are all about the same size. The center is not much bigger than the kicker and the kicker is about the same size as the lineman. Now, look at the current picture you have. Are they all the same size? HELL NO! There is a wide range of body types and sizes. The kicker is a small guy and the center is probably heavy for his height. The linemen are big and the receivers are average.

            When people were eating mostly food from their own gardens, they were getting food that didn’t have all of this junk in it. They bought their animals locally, from trusted people, and had them butchered locally. They had more control over their food. You start feeding people food that contains this crap and we can’t help but ingest it. Once it’s in, it’s in. Our bodies can’t filter all of it, so we’re stuck with it. We adjust according to what is put in our bodies. We get steroids, we start to get bigger. We get hormones, and we put on more weight. Our country is becoming obese—we have all heard the stories on the news—and it’s probably not really all our fault.

            I have tried to diet to lose a little weight. I’m not obese, but I would like to lost about 7 or 10 pounds. I can eat grilled chicken salads all day long, which should be good for me, and not lose an ounce. I wonder why! If my chicken has hormones in it, I don’t stand a chance! Just think about this for awhile. Our rate of heart disease is ever-increasing, and some of it is really not our fault. 

Happy Eating (and pondering about all of this)! 

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            I guess I’ll start with the dead pigs. Each pig is kept in a crate so small that they can’t even turn around and can barely lie down. They have to urinate and defecate right there in the crate and it falls into a pit underneath them. However, most generally the gaps in the boards are not wide enough for the feces to fall through, so they stand and lay in it. When they are forced to have the feces near their bodies, they begin to develop sores and their hooves rot. I don’t know about you, but I want to be clean after I go to the bathroom.

            Because of this, and other things, the pigs get diseases that spread throughout the barn, infecting the other hogs. Not only that, but many times they will get such horrible infections that there’s nothing that can be done. When either of these happens, the pigs become incapacitated and start to die. The barn workers drag them out, usually still alive, and pile them up in some location on the property. There’s usually a designated area where they put the dead. They just pile them up, as the picture shows, and leave them there to die. It can take days for them to finally die. That pile of pigs just sits there, rotting and rotting, until there’s nothing left but bones. They don’t bury them, they don’t shoot them and put them out of their misery; they just let the flesh and meat decay, becoming rancid. The smell is so horrible that you can’t really even drive by it without being disgusted.

            The other thing that happens sometimes is the owners of these barns recognize that a sow has an atrocious sore or that she is getting ready to die so they hurry up and butcher her. Now, I don’t think that you would want to eat this ham if you knew that the pig had an infected sore when it was butchered. I know I’m always concerned about cooking meat to temperature so that it kills the bacteria, but I’m also making the assumption that the meat is not riddled with infection and disease. We trust these producers to process food that is safe for human consumption and they are not doing it 100% of the time. Yes, most of the food is fine, but there are times when it’s not.

            Let me tell you a story. One of our friends we telling us one day just recently that he knew a guy that worked in a processing plant. He didn’t specify, but I was under the assumption that this plant dealt mostly with cattle. He told us that one day the health inspectors were watching the grinder as the meat was thrown in to become ground beef. These animals would come through with huge goiters on their stomachs and legs and the guy would have to hurry up and shove the meat through without letting the inspectors see it because, obviously, this is a violation and they’ll make the plant throw out all of the meat in the grinder. Now, that is coming from a person who worked in the plant, so what else do you think they do that they get away with?

            Back to the piles of dead pigs. The laws state that any dead animal must be buried at a certain depth to prevent water and soil contamination. These factory hog barns are not doing this. Gee, I guess that means that OUR WATER AND SOIL ARE CONTAMINATED! Not to mention the air, too. What are these people thinking?!?!?!? Do they have any respect for the people that are buying their food and keeping them in business? Apparently not! I will provide a list for you of companies that engage in these practices soon.

Happy Eating!

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            California recently passed Proposition 2, which bans CAFOs from the state. This was an enormous win. Florida and Arizona also have the same laws. We need to outlaw them in every state! Keep checking back for information. These are bad places and they have a massive impact on the environment. However, I want to warn you that some of the things I will be taking about are disgusting, gross, nauseating, revolting, repulsive, and sordid. There will be pictures too, so if you’re squeamish, I have given you fair warning.

            Think about this until tomorrow. Some of you may have seen one of these buildings. I’m not sure of the dimensions, but just one of those buildings houses over 8,800 hogs. Imagine packing 100 people in your house. Those 100 people live, sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom in that one house. Now, pretend there’s no indoor plumbing and no running water. If you can visualize what that would be like, then you have just pictured a CAFO.

            I’ll have more to tell you tomorrow so, please, come back and read about it.

Happy Eating! (I hate to do that to you after that wonderful picture I painted for you. Sorry!) 

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Here are some used prices (as many as I could find) for similar equipment. The prices may be less, but, like buying a used car, they usually come with problems.

            So, maybe this gives you an idea about how much it really costs to purchase all of the tractors and implements that are needed to be a farmer. We can’t really do without any of them because costs to hire custom work have gone up and become impossible and uneconomical to pay. We do some custom baling work for some of the neighbors. They own 20 cows and like to call themselves farmers, but they’re really not. They pretty well just have the cows as a tax write-off. They have 40-hour-a-week jobs and just dabble in cattle. They have everyone else do the work while they sit in their comfortable chairs and wait until it’s time to take them to the salebarn. By the time they pay someone to feed them, they haven’t made any money at all. So, they tell their accountant and the accountant figures it in, and voilà, they don’t owe any taxes this year.

Anyway, all of the guys who custom bale hay talked here and there about a reasonable increase for their rates because the cost of diesel was outrageous. So, I think it was something like $10.50 per bale and $5 or $6 per acre to rake and I’m not sure what mowing was. The average field is around 40 acres, so it cost someone like $800 if they got about a bale an acre, which is typical. They would grumble (not every one of them, though) and say it was too high, but they’re not paying for the fuel. Then, a lot of them turn around and sell the bales for $40 or $50 each. They’re at least doubling their money, getting around $1,600-$2,000 when they sell them. So, they get tax cuts because they can show a loss for sitting on their butts, and they’re actually turning a profit.

However, we have to remember that these people are not really farmers. They claim to be but they are supplementing their farm income with a job, or their job income with a farm. We could sell all of our bales, too, but then we wouldn’t have anything to feed our cattle. Then they would die. Then we really couldn’t make our farm payment. Really, what these people are actually doing is called TAX FRAUD. Someone a long time ago saw that a lot of farmers were not having to pay very much in taxes because they can deduct pretty much all of their expenses and loan payments and they decided, “I’ll get a few cattle and tell the government that I’m a farmer but I had to get a job to supplement my income because farming isn’t cutting it so that way I won’t have to pay any extra taxes on my income.” Quite frankly, that is crap. It’s not fair to us and it’s not fair to you. If you want to be a farmer, be a farmer! If you want to have a job, then go get one! If you want to have a cow to butcher for meat, then buy one and butcher it! Don’t make us look bad because you want to screw the government. Wait, now I have to make it clear that we don’t want to pay taxes any more than the next guy, but everyone’s taxes are going up because of this and similar stuff. Sometimes they sell their cattle for cash and then claim they got less. That’s really tax fraud.

You know, having the best house and the nicest pickup isn’t everything. We know people who buy a new pickup every year and say it’s for the “farm” so they can use it for a tax deduction. Well, I’m here to tell you that 10 measly cows IS NOT A FARM! That’s a hobby. That’s a way to defraud the government. I think the government has really put this country in the poor house as much as the next guy does, but people like this haven’t helped the situation any. If you compound them, that’s a lot of money. We would love to have a newer pickup so that we could do our chores without having to put 2 quarts of oil in every day. Actually, we deserve a new pickup, but people like this are screwing us.

The point is that true farmers with 100 or more head of cattle are barely hanging on because of the costs associated with tractors, farming, supplies, parts, hay, and so on. We don’t need these fly-by-night “farmers” ruining our livelihood. It projects a bad image on us and gives us a bad name. What’s worse is that these people are the ones who usually get top dollar for their cattle at the salebarn. Well, we would get top dollar too if we could hire someone to take care of 10 or 20 cows. Believe me, we would love to have our cows bring top dollar at the market. It would really help us out and give us a little breathing room. We would love to haBut, they don’t, even though they are no worse then the hobbyists’ cattle.

Well, I hope you keep reading. I have so much more to tell you about farming, and the stigmas attached to it, and the jealousy that people have, and the hardships we face every day. It’s a different way of life, but we’re just like everyone else. Actually, we’re probably more down to earth and more appreciative of what we have. We’re definitely more humble and thankful.

Happy Eating, until we meet again!

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When I talk about the amount of money that farmers make, I am speaking of our share of the retail food dollar. Did you know that farmers and ranchers receive only 20¢ of every food dollar that consumers spend on food at home and away from home? We’re not getting rich out here and, in fact, most of us are going bankrupt. That’s one reason why there are very few new farms being introduced. One of the other reasons is CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). Most of us know them as factory farms, and they are very, very dangerous to consumers, the environment, and the animals. But, that’s another topic that I will blog about in the next few weeks.

On to today’s topic. Here are some prices compared to how much a farmer makes. When you look at this you have to be sure to pay attention to the quantity. I know that some things are cheaper based on the size, so that would lessen what we make.

*Information taken from literature published by the NFU and personal knowledge.*

These are just some examples of the production to consumer variations. In a few days I’ll talk about what it costs us to produce the food compared to what we earn. Unlike the above numbers being so far apart, those numbers are extremely close together. It’ll be more clear when I break everything down into dollars.

So what are you learning here? We’re not making a lot of money off the land or from the stores. So, basically, we’re losing from both ends. Plus, we have payments like everyone else. In other words, we’re “broke as a joke.” At this point, I must reiterate that our reward is the satisfaction we get from the job we do. One day we’ll have our farms paid off and we’ll be able to reap the rewards of our production, but that won’t be for, um, let’s see, 30 years. That’ll make me 60 and my husband 70. Then, at that point, the market may be lower than it already is. So, we may not make any money!

I know that brokers and construction workers have lost income due to a declining economy too, but you can’t eat without farmers. I feel just as sorry for all of the people that have seen a decline in the number of clients they have or products they are selling. We are all suffering.

However, think about the fact that we have to fuel not only our vehicles, but also our tractors, combines, and ATVs. We can’t be without any of those or we can’t do our job. When you have four tires to replace (or maybe eight with your spouse’s car), we have 20 or 30. You can buy tires for $80-$100 each, and our tires for our equipment cost $200, $300, and even $500 each. Multiply that times two. If we’re running duals, that’s two more. Those are usually the ones that cost upwards of $400, which makes $1,600. That’s just the back. If you add the front, that’s probably another $400 or more. Then you have to add the cost of the tubes. Just so we can get our crops in and out.

Now, most tractor tires, because of their plys, tubes, and because they’re mostly run in the field, will last longer than car tires. Let’s assume your tire is a 60,000-mile tire. You’ll probably get at least 50,000 miles out of them, assuming you don’t blow them. We’re also assuming that you drive normally. If you drive 20,000 miles in a year, your tires will last 2 ½ years. In ten years, you’ll have approximately $2,000 (at $125 per tire) tied up in your vehicle, just for tires. Making the same assumptions, a farmer will have $3,250 in 10 years, not counting the duals. That’s just two front and two rear, getting new tires every 4 years. Add $800 for one set of duals in 10 years (which is probably generous). So we’re up to $4,050. Multiply that by 3, as most farmers have 3 or more tractors. $12,000+, minimum. We’ve spent six times what one person will spend in tires in 10 years. Then you have a combine, baler, rake, planter, brush hog, and other equipment and implements that also require tires; some of which are special order and cost out the rear. I won’t get into all of those because I’m going to assume you see my point. Plus, I’ve already begun a topic that I had intended for another day. Oh, one last thing. Some people can get road hazard on their tire at Wal-Mart for $10 or $12 and have a tire fixed for free (because you’ve initially spent the $10). When we have to have a tractor or combine tire fixed, we have to call the “farm team” in a nearby town because of the size of the tire and the inability to remove the rim from the axle. One service call to fix one rear tire costs $100. I would say we have to do this at least once a month, sometimes more, depending on how many tractors we’re running at the time. We tired of paying the cost, so we learned how to do the front tires ourselves, which saves us a little money.

Anyway, we are, of course, on a larger scale than people who go to a job. Nevertheless, when you factor in what little we are paid from the retail dollar, you can see that we’re living on little to nothing. One day I’ll tell you what we paid a couple of years ago to have our biggest tractor fixed. You could have many cars fixed for what we spent.

I hope you have a little better understanding of what we go though. These are just a couple of issues we face. There is so much more that I’ll have to discuss it all in more blogs, so I hope you keep reading. It’s a great job to have, but there’s just so much that goes along with it.

Until tomorrow, Happy Eating!

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            I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what I’m going to talk about today. There are so many things and I could have a different subject every day for a year. So, here is kind of an overview of what we do, how we live, how people look at us, and so on.

When you’re a farmer, you are also a veterinarian, an accountant, a bookkeeper, an advocate, a publicist, a salesman, a heavy equipment operator, a land steward, a conservationist, a plumber, a fence builder, a driver, a writer, a teacher, a friend, a businessman or woman, and so many other things. We wear many hats. Literally. We have so many things on our plates that we cannot even think about much else. You know those vacation days that you get each year from your employer where you take a week to go to Disney Land with your children? Well, we don’t get those. It is impossible to be away for more than one or two nights at a time. When we got married 2 ½ years ago, we did not take a nice honeymoon. Our honeymoon was spent here at the farm because we had cows giving birth and we had to be nearby. Now, I am not complaining. We choose to be farmers and make those sacrifices. I don’t think I would give this job up for any other in the world, no matter how much I would get paid. It’s just that sometimes I don’t think we get the respect we deserve for doing a job that many people won’t do.

            Just to give you an example of what I am talking about, my husband, my father-in-law, and I went to vote on Tuesday. We all came straight off the tractors and out of the field to head to our polling location. We were, of course, somewhat dirty. We had hay dust on us and a little grease here and there, but we were not nasty. One woman working the polls looked the three of us up and down and then looked away, refusing to give us ballots. Luckily, the woman sitting beside her reached over, picked three up, and handed them to us with a smile. Then, I sat there and watched her do the same thing to another farmer we know. Because we’re dirty, does that mean we shouldn’t be able to vote? The longer I was there the more it bothered me. I thought, “I’m going to get my point across in a nice way. I can’t just let this go.” As I walked out, I thanked the second woman for being nice and looked at the first and told her very simply, “If it weren’t for people like us and Frank (the second man—his name has been changed here), you wouldn’t have food to put on your table.”

            Don’t think that I am saying that everyone should bow down to us, because I’m not. But don’t alienate us because we had to go to the polls a little dirty or because we have to live in an older house. I’m also not saying that people should thank a farmer every time they say grace or walk in the grocery store. What I mean by all this is that people should appreciate farmers, and many people do, but more people don’t. They take for granted that they can go to the store and there will be food. I said yesterday that less than ½ of 1% of the population are farmers. What would happen if that number was reduced by another ½? Conceivably, there would be about ¼ less food in the stores. Those who are still farming would increase their production some based on supply and demand, but they could not make up for the total amount missing. They don’t have the resources or space to grow the food needed to compensate. It would also increase prices, which we are all well aware have gone up recently.

            Think about some of these things next time you’re making dinner. Be thankful for what we have and hope that we don’t lose what we’ve got.

            Tomorrow, my blog will discuss the costs of foods. I think anyone reading will be surprised at the huge differences between what we are paid for what we produce and what you pay for food in the store. Until then, if you are in the store between now and then, look at the prices of ground beef and steaks. Even check about carrots, chips, bread, and so on. See how much they are per pound or what you’re paying for a bag of chips or a loaf of bread and let me know. I’d be interested in hearing what people are paying. I think you’ll be disappointed when you find out where the money is going.

            The other thing I plan on talking about soon is what is actually in the food, meat in particular. It made me think again when I found out.

            Finally, I want to also talk about what it costs us to produce the food in the next week or so. We’re not getting rich by any means, but the payoff comes from the satisfaction of watching our work mature and develop.

Until then, Happy Eating!

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