Illinois Conservative Politics
http://illinoisleader.com/columnists/columnistsview.asp?c=7995

MORRISON: Farm Subsidy 101
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
By Joyce Morrison (jmorrison@illinoisleader.com)

"Illinois' most famous citizen, Abraham Lincoln, called agriculture the 'largest interest' of the nation when he established the United States Department of Agriculture in 1862."
(www.agstats.state.il.us)
 

Artist Grant Wood painted this classic American portrait in 1930 of a farmer and his wife, The American Gothic, after being trained at the Chicago Art Institute, where the portrait still resides.
 

Blacksmith John Deere and his family settled in Grand Detour, Illinois, where he was made aware of difficulty tilling soil being encountered by farmers. Deere invented a steel plow in 1937 and successfully trialed it on the farm of Lewis Crandall near Grand Detour.
 

After Cyrus McCormick took out a patent on his mechanical "Virginia Reaper" in 1931, he moved his business to Chicago to reach more farmers in the Midwest. McCormick's invention was the basis for a global corporation known as International Harvester, established in 1902 - eight years after his death (www.ohwy.com).
 

This portrait by Alexandre de Batz painted in 1735 depicts the Illinois Indian Tribe, which lived along the western border of our state. They were farmers, hunters, and gatherers (http://ol.pi-noe.ac.at/e7_tribes.doc).
 

In the late 1880s, German immigrant farmers introduced horseradish to the southwestern part of Illinois. The conditions in Madison and St. Clair Counties are ideal for growing horseradish. Known as the American Bottom, this area is perfect because the soil is rich and loose. About 85% of the world's horseradish supply comes from these two counties. Collinsville is called the Horseradish Capital of the World, where the Horseradish Festival is held each year (www.horseradishfestival.com).

OPINION -- "Our farmers deserve praise, not condemnation; and their efficiency should be cause for gratitude, not something for which they are penalized." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Recently it was very crudely pointed out by a special interest group that farmers were "no more than a bunch of welfare recipients.

"This group of educated professionals apparently have either been misinformed, or they are totally uninformed, and perhaps the basic role of farm subsidies should be explained at a beginner's level.

Everyone, with no exception, must eat to live. Food is purchased packaged from the grocery store but it originates from the farm. Pasta, cereals, and breads come from wheat. Foods like sauces come from tomatoes, vinegar (apples), or other farm products. Soybean oil is used in numerous food items. Corn is used for cereal products but is also used as feed for poultry, pork, beef, and other meats found at the meat counter.

Food is not "made" - it is grown on a farm and then processed for consumption. Milk is still made by cows and not by the grocery store.

The subsidy is for the American public - not the farmer. It enables the American public to spend only 11.2% of their income for food in the 1990s. America enjoys the best quality food at the lowest price in the world. Most spending growth for food in recent years is food eaten away from home. (In 1950, 17.7% of income was spent for food.)

Brazilians allocated 37.4 percent of income to food purchases in 2001 according to the Southern U.S. Trade Association. In the year 2000:

Price received for a bushel of corn: $1.90
Production cost: $2.78
Price received for a bushel of soybeans: $4.85
Production cost: $6.36 to 7.76
(Prices are per www.agstats.state.il.us/farmfacts. Production figures are obtained from farm business records kept by Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association at www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/newsletters/html/050201.html.)

Anyone can see from the above figures the American farmer is in trouble.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich drove a $256,000 combine through the field at the DuQuoin State Fair, "reaping the corn and depositing the grain in the bed of a semi-tractor trailer."

How many bushels of corn would it take to pay for this combine? I hope he doesn’t think that every farmer has one of those machines. Very few farmers have had the privilege of even driving a combine of that magnitude.

In fact, even a good piece of used equipment is hard to find these days unless a farmer is selling out. Only a few select farmers trade equipment regularly. The majority use their equipment until it is totally worn out, as they cannot afford new.

In 1950, the farmer/rancher received 40% of each dollar spent on food. In the 1990s they received 22%.

In the 1950s there were 17 persons fed by each farmer. In the 1990s there were 132.

In the 1950s there were 5,400,00 farms with 16% of the population being farmers. In the 1990s there are 2,000,000 farms with only 1.8% of the population being farmers.

Farmers/ranchers are no longer able to fight the battle to raise food when the profit margin is so low they cannot even feed their own families. A University of Minnesota study reveals that it takes one farm family member working 2,080 hours X $16.00 an hour to make up the family living shortfall of a farm family of 3.6 persons.

There is almost no hired labor on farms any more as there just isn’t the money available to hire outside help, so the farm family has the total labor input. When family members are required to work off the farm, the labor situation is very strained.

Farmers/ranchers have no benefits. They have no pension programs or health insurance and they have to pay in 100% on their Social Security.

It is essential to understand the price controls and reason for farm subsidies if America's food is to stay the best in the world.

The Farm Program was born out of crisis. The Dust Bowl days of the 30s, rationing of goods during war years, and the flight of farm and rural people to cities for better jobs began to reveal the instability of the food available for Americans (from Arkansas Farm Bureau).

There are now almost two generations "off the farm" who have lost the knowledge of the importance of the farm and how it effects them.

Congress enacted basic farm support legislation to assure this nation of a safe, abundant and affordable food supply. The basic purpose of the farm program (subsidy) is the security for the U.S. and conservation of our natural resources.

Without this program there would be no farmers and no food.

Various special interest groups attempted to use the 2002 Farm Bill to advance their particular cause; such as aid to Third World countries, altering U.S. food production practices under the banner of food safety and environmental protection and free trade at any cost, according to the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

The U.S. farm policy amounts to little more than one-half of one percent of the federal budget.

Farm program spending includes more than just income support for farmers. Soil and water conservation initiatives, food stamps, school lunches and other food related activities, conservation programs, ag trade promotion, rural development, loans, and risk management all fall under the "farm bill."

The 2002 Farm Bill set a record for funding conservation initiatives - some 80% higher than the record levels of the last Farm Bill. It is the "greenest" farm bill in history in terms of conservation and benefits for the environment. U.S. farm policy protects millions of acres of wildlands in Third World countries where low efficiency agriculture would otherwise increase (Arkansas Farm Bureau).

Farmers/ranchers do not like controls. They are extremely independent individuals. All they ask for is a fair price for their product so they are not dependent on the government. Farm programs are very controlling and the money is not just handed over as some believe. There is endless red tape and hoops to go through in complying with farm programs. USDA employees have suffered cut backs and they, too, are stressed with these complicated programs.

Crop insurance is very costly, but if uninsured, a crop failure can destroy a farmer overnight.

For those who think their salaries should increase with knowledge, it may come as a surprise that many farmers/ranchers have college degrees. They are not limited to a single area of expertise but are experts in many professional arenas.

They are marketers/purchasers, soil and livestock nutrition specialists, bookkeepers, machinery operators, mechanics, veterinary assistants, horsemen, among a whole long list of other accomplishments.

Mathmatics is an essential element as fertilizers, chemicals, seeds, acres must be very accurately figured or there are severe consequences.

They still scoop grain and manure, so they are physically fit.

Some "professionals" complained about slow moving farm equipment being a problem to them. Keep in mind you are probably a "visitor" to that farmer’s community. He is only moving his equipment from field to field seasonally, and it is doubtful he will be in your neighborhood on his equipment.

Without price supports (subsidy), you would have NO food. There are very few young farmers these days, as they cannot afford to stay on the farm. When this aging generation of family farmers die off, the public will most likely depend on corporate farms or food from third World Countries. When we complain about the farmers and ranchers, do we really want to depend on our food coming from foreign sources as we do for our oil?

So the next time you think a farmer or rancher is a "detriment to society," please think twice. The next time you feel the need to eat something, remember the Adopt a Farm Family/Rural Restoration slogan of "No Farmers - No Food."


Joyce Morrison
Joyce Morrison lives in southern Illinois. She is a chapter leader for Concerned Women for America and she and her husband, Gary, represent the local Citizens for Private Property Rights. Joyce is Secretary to the Board of Directors of Rural Restoration/ADOPT Mission, a national farm ministry located in Sikeston. She has become a nationally-recognized advocate for property rights.





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