f
Those farmers with the financial
ability and the desire have
returned to the fields to scatter
their seeds and make one more try
at that ever elusive farm profit.
Plenty of farmers won’t make the
chase this year. They folded during
the winter, unable to rally the
energy or the finances for another
try. And no doubt some of those
who are back in the fields are
simply digging their hole one year
deeper. Obviously the last farm
foreclosure hasn’t been posted.
Reports from across die country
reflect the mood and financial
distress of farmers with in
dications of idled land something
that was virtually unheard of a few
years ago. Farmers are actually
leaving fields vacant preferring to
concentrate their efforts where
there’s potential for a reasonable
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return. After all why till a piece of
land that promises only marginal
productivity? Who needs the
exercise and the equipment wear
and tear to till a worn out old farm
that isn’t going to show a profit? Or
why pay the cash rent beyond the
ability of that land to pay it back?
Some farms and some farm
owners are going begging this
spring according to some national
reports. Here’s an example: In
Georgia the experts are saying
there will be a 14 percent reduction
in planted acres this year. The
result of farmers scaling back or
leaving farming altogether. Or in
some cases, farmers just unable to
find the money for seed, fuel,
fertilizer and the other essentials
of crop production.
It remains to be seen how many
acres will be idled across the
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country voluntarily. After all it’s
highly unusual for fanners to back
off from all out production. Even in
cases where farmers have folded
up or given up certain farms there
has usually been another farmer
waiting to step in and take his shot.
But collectively or otherwise
farmers have reached the
breaking point. They’re no longer
willing to pay too much rent for a
piece of ground that has lost money
for every tenant for the last 3 or 4
years. They are unwilling or
unable to take a chance on land
that’s too far from home or suffers
excessively from prolonged dry
spells. There Just isn’t any margin
for risk taking left for many far
mers.
You could applaud this effort and
say it’s good for agriculture to get
some acres out of production at no
cost to the taxpayer. But there is a
cost although it’s not as clear cut
as a government payment. The
cost in some areas like Georgia
where a lot of land is being idled
will show up in reduced purchasing
by farmers for the things they need
to till those acres. And in reduced
sales from the production of those
idled acres. That could mean
significantly reduced farm
spending, especially in hard hit
areas.
Another impact will be on the
incomes of those land owners who
are unable to rent those marginal
farms. In many cases retired folks
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counted on the income from those
rented farms for their living. It
was traditional some years ago for
farmers not to have retirement
programs. They considered their
farms to be their retirement. When
they got ready to retire they could
rent the land and live off that in
come or in some cases sell off
parcels as additional income was
needed. It was like money in the
bank maybe even better con
sidering the inflationary times of
the 1970’5.
But suddenly hard times have
come to farming and that rental
income is reduced or even
eliminated. That certainly has its
effect on the quality of life of those
retired owners and mavbe even on
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the economic well being of the
rural community where they live.
A substantial cutback in planted
acres would have a very positive
effect on farm prices and farmers’
incomes. But that’s not likely to
happen. And that means farming
harder and smarter than they did
last year. If they gave up some
land it was the poorest land or the
land that cost the most in relation
to its yield potential. That means
they now can devote more effort,
maybe even more resources to the
remaining acres and that could
mean higher yields. The net
national effect might be even more
output on a smaller base. A lot will
depend on the weather between
now and harvest.
D 9
I!