Several years ago a merchant friend of mine described to me very simply what it means to the community to lose a farmer.
He said “Every time a farmer quits, I sell two pairs of rubber boots less a year.” For each job in our county, there are many businesses effected. Big businesses, farms and small businesses all hire help either permanent staff or part time. Both owners and employees buy fuel, groceries, clothes, homes or rent, oil changes, etc. When a farm or business shuts the door, employees and sometimes owners move away and the community, including churches, doctors and schools all notice the loss.
Every time that a farmer quits or that the farm is sold, I think about the “seven bank accounts of a farmer” and wonder how many or which one was the main reason? Of the seven bank accounts, (soil, seed, knowledge, the family-or team, neighbours, politics, or money), most local farmers quit because there is no one in their family or team willing to take over the farm. It could be a health problem like allergies for one member or maybe there are no others interested in those long hours with little time off.
Our dairy farming friends to the south are quitting because for the last four years they have been selling their milk for less than it costs to produce it.
If the US farm had equity and a good past reputation, then their lenders carried them for a few years hoping that milk prices would improve like it did in the past. After all equity was gone, the barn door was closed for the last time and many farmers even killed themselves.
Many farmers continue on until they are physically unable because of their love of the land, the animals, the way of life that cannot be replaced easily in any retirement home. Often businesses that care for the future of their employees start five years before an employee retires conditioning the employee for retirement.
When a dairy herd is dispersed, it is a very traumatic experience for the farmer and all those who worked with the herd. Years of carefully choosing the perfect match for each cow and then often staying up half the night to help that new calf into the world. Often the farmer cared for sick animals with many expensive visits from the vet, only to watch the animal die after. Every animal is a friend that after several years becomes a close friend. Some people start farming as a hobby or as a place to relax from a permanent stressful job and eventually choose the farm over that stressful job even though it often paid much better.
Some folks try farming only to discover that it is very demanding and stressful work which they were not prepared for. This second group can usually transition away from farming much easier than someone born and raised there. Whatever type of farming you do, it has to be “fun” with some time off or the next generation will find “fun” and time off at another job.
Farmers must let the next generation make some decisions from an early age and some of those will be mistakes. If the next generation is scolded for every small mistake then eventually the young will leave and the old farmer will be left to make all the mistakes on the farm himself for rest of his life.
Many modern farms today require enormous investment with uncertain prices when it’s time to sell whatever it produces. Some farms today have several millions of dollars invested in land, facilities, and cattle. Several hundred thousand to just plant a crop in the spring is not uncommon. Some farmers just cannot stand the mental stress of having millions of dollars of debt. Farmers are the only businesses that buy everything “retail” and sell everything “wholesale”. Everything that you eat today was produced by a farmer somewhere!
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that hasbeen in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
