By Eric Bream
Yes, in order to be a farmer, you better love it.
Farmers work long hours and deal with many obstacles in their quest to bring a crop to harvest, but let’s be honest, farming is a business and I think that one of our biggest failures in connecting with our customers is that we fail to educate them with the fact that no farm is sustainable without profitability.
Most consumers’ financial association is at the retail level. They don’t think about how their choices affect the bottom line at the farm level. Can you blame them? We have developed a society in which 2% of the population feeds and clothes the other 98%. Most people simply don’t have the time, the money, or the inclination to worry about the origins of their food.
I have a tendency to look at farming as a financial transaction. Let me explain:
Assume you have a $5 million investment in land and equipment and that it takes another $600k to invest in the current crop. Wouldn’t you expect a reasonable return on your investment?
Economic reality dictates that if you don’t get a reasonable return on your investment, you will look for other avenues to invest. For some, that might mean that you look at planting other crops, while for others it may mean that you sell your assets and invest the proceeds outside of agriculture.
I bring this up because I think this will be a reality for many farmers as the ever tightening grip of regulations force farmers to make some tough choices.
Our legislators – a very powerful group in this country – are failing to see this simple truth.
These legislators seem hell bent to continue imposing arbitrary laws and regulations that not only run counter to profitability on the farm, but also have no real benefit to the community. Many of the laws and regulations the farmer faces today are put into place in backroom deals between politicians and special interest lobbyists with seemingly little thought with respect to how they will affect the bottom line of the family farm. These laws not only hurt the American farmer, but the American farm worker, and ultimately the American family.
And to add insult to injury, these same politicians allow unelected bureaucrats to interpret and enforce those regulations.
I hear both consumers and politicians clamoring for sustainability, but it seems that they fail to take the economics into account. The bottom line (pun intended)? We need to educate both consumers and the government as to how their choices affect the farm. Take the opportunity to do so.
Eric Bream
Contributor and Administrator to My Job Depends on Ag & Ag Expo Magazine.
Farmer, Father, Friend to Ag.
