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A Farm of My Own:  Rising Costs of Farm-Land Ownership  |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 08:29:19 AM
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Here is an article that is food for thought... I personally have seen this happening for several years in my area. It is part of this real estate boom. People seem to think there is security in land when the economy falters. The prices here are outrageous. It is usually wealthy investors and developers buying huge tracts of land for speculation and developement. This lures family farms to sell out. It shuts out people who want to start farming and diversifying agriculture. Small organic farmers are struggling here. Part of the problem is the huge cash cow that is subsidies. The small farmer that really needs a leg up is not getting the federal assistance they need. I personally know of very wealthy people (land owners, investors,developers, ect.) getting enormous amounts of subsidies! Until the ag system in this country is structured to help the small family farm, and a free market system is favorable to those farms and their products we are in a crisis here in the heartland...That is why you all see those "ghost" farmsteads and towns in Kansas.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0707/p01s02-usec.html?ref=aol
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
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lurban
True Blue Farmgirl
61 Posts
Vermont
61 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 09:01:16 AM
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| And what to do about it? Cooperative buying of large farmland? Can groups of people actually meet the prices of large corporations and developers? One can't blame struggling families for selling their land for the most money possible. So what can we do? This is not a rhetorical question. If you've got ideas and answers, I'd love to hear them! |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 09:41:52 AM
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I do not claim to have the answers... I can only offer up what I feel could help the struggling small farm families and young people wanting to get into farming... Take away all the big corporate tax advantages, and federal subsidies associated with corporate farming and land speculation. Create incentives and tax advantages for the small farmer and the young farmer to be. WE all know Washington favors the corporate machine! lurban, do you have any ideas on this also?
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
Edited by - MeadowLark on Jul 07 2005 09:49:51 AM |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 10:26:15 AM
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Thanks for posting the article. I just get so angry when I read something like this. That article is written about the area where I grew up. I know that land and the small farming communities that go with it. It is a travesty that the small farms are disappearing because of greedy developers and real estate people buying on speculation. And the small towns are drying up too because the farmers are moving away. The same thing is happening here in Washington. In Clark County, at one time, there were over 1200 dairy farms. Now that number is down to 5!!! The people sold off their land because they were becoming surrounded by the city.
Just outside of the where we live there was a huge berry farm that has been there for years. It's a landmark. If you ask someone where they live they say "out by Annie's Berry Farm". Well, Annie retired and her kids did not want to work the farm. So she sold the land to developers and now there are houses being built on that land.
And it's true that the larger farm corporations are getting the most in subsidies. The system is set up completely backwards -- it should be the small farmer that is getting the most help. I don't know what to do to help but I intend to do so research to find out who to write or contact.
This just makes me so sad that I want to cry.
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State
North Clark County Farmgirls and
Sisterhood of the Traveling Art |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 11:55:15 AM
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This land (Kansas) is in my blood and bone... I have lived here for all of my 49 years. I remember the little prairie farming towns bustling and full of life and people earning their livings off the land, sanely with no help from DC... The people took pride in their farms, land, communities and helped and cared for each other. They were self-sufficient, proud and independent. They were decendents of the tough pioneers that settled the West. The county fairs were the highlight of the summer, there were harvest festivals, Saturday night dances, family reunions, Church festivals, ect... Schools were full, business passed on to generations thrived, and farms stayed in families for generations. This is all a memory now...I have pictures of those times. But everytime I pass an abandoned farm, a deserted little town, an empty building where a business once florished on this prairie it feels like a knife in the heart... An emptiness of the soul.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
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lurban
True Blue Farmgirl
61 Posts
Vermont
61 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 12:51:57 PM
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You all are right. Making our voices heard is important -- as is buying from local family farms whenever possible. I'm afraid I don't have any bright ideas, but I'm open to them if people have them to share. There must be something we can do.
I'm also all for ridding corporate tax incentives, and am afraid you are right, Clare, we're going to need an administrative sea change before that can happen.
At the moment, I take small but deliberate steps. In addition to supporting local farmers, I buy as much as I can from independent businesses and coops. Can't get mad at agribusiness and shop at stores like Walmart that support those megafarms, right? |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2005 : 12:53:10 PM
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Jenny -- I can totally relate to what you say. That's the way it was when I was growing up in IL. The town flourished because the farmers flourished. Saturday night was a big night in our little town. The stores stayed open late because that's when the farmers came to town to do their shopping. We would all gather at the local restaurant and visit. Now the restaurant has been torn down and the little town is barely surviving. There are only 200 people left, the school has closed, and the kids are bussed somewhere else. When I go home to visit it just makes me so sad. And I still feel like Central IL is my home -- it is in my soul. I get my strength from the flat land and the fields. It is my heart's desire to move back there again someday. Despite all the problems the farmers and the small towns are having, in my opinion, it is still the best place on earth to live to raise kids.
I went back and re-read that article again. I was thinking about it and what Clare said about a grassroots effort. That is what it will take, one person and one or more acres at a time -- supporting each other and buying from each other. And that is what MaryJane is trying to do and is inspiring all of us to do. And we need to encourage the younger generation in the farming effort too. Teach them how to farm and hopefully they will come to love the land as much as we all do.
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State
North Clark County Farmgirls and
Sisterhood of the Traveling Art |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 03:45:44 AM
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http://www.ewg.org:16080/farm/ You can find out who's getting what amount in subsidies.
I have a lot to say on the subject but it's opening day for Senior FarmShare and the farmstand. I'll get back to this.
Robin
Thyme For Ewe Farm
www.thymeforewe.com |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 05:41:56 AM
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Hey Girls, I have so much to say about this, I dont know where to start. I've been complaining on deaf ears in N.J. for years. We all feel the same way, if WE feel this way you know there are others that do. I honestly thought that most of this was just happening on the EAST coast. I have lived in N.J. all my 53 years, It REALLY was "the garden "state. It had everything. I cant afford to buy a home here unless Im still paying AFTER im dead & gone!!!! (joke) but you get my meaning. Clare, I agree with you about this administration and I dont want to bash Bush but unless we have a MAJOR change in this country, it will only get worse. I BELIEVE the MAJOR CHANGE MUST come from "US, THE PEOPLE. We have got to shout louder, make ourselves heard till they dont want to hear us anymore, we have to vote smarter, take back our farms by becoming a LARGER group, LARGER then the corporations and developers that are raping the land. It takes so much work to change things but it must be done. Maryjane talks about the small farm and how women are most of the small farmers these days, its inspirational and it gives me hope but if it doesnt get "fixed" soon, there will be no small farm to have. Maybe it is women who will fight for this but fight is what it will be. People always think the little guy cant do anything, alot of times he cant BUT some times he can. If everyone who loves farms, ranches, open spaces, woods, etc. got together, I have to believe it will make a difference. In school I had a history teacher who said if all the people in China got together and just had sticks (nothing else) in their hands to fight us or anyone, they would win just by shear number. I never forgot that when I had to fight for something I believed in. Do we have strenghth in numbers?? Michele
"she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands". Prov. 31:13 |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 08:32:12 AM
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I agree this country is in need of a lot of change. It needs to go BACK 50 years in so many areas.
It kills me to see acres of beautiful land sold to a developer, who puts 5 houses on one acre... Ugly, cookie-cutter things only 5 feet apart from each other. Who wants to live like that? I don't, but apparently other people do.
The difference is in our people. Suddenly so many people don't want yards. They want convenience. They don't want to play in the dirt, they want to go out and party, or throw a party. They don't know their neighbors and they don't care. They want fancy cars - have to keep up with the Joneses - boats, TVs, computers, on and on and on...
I have found a piece of land for sale that I want. But my DH and I know something even if we do buy that land: it's going to get so built up around us over time, that we will have to sell. For a pretty penny? Probably. We would far rather find a chunk of land and just be able to live there, love the land and the gardens, and die happy. I want gardens I can happily say I tended fo 30 years - and look at those magnificent roses!
I think, if we had land like that, I wouldn't mind the thought of having a kid or two. But in a city, or in town, the way things are, my DH and I don't want any. We take in stray dogs and find them homes instead. We have two furkids of our own, and that's all we need. Sad that we should refuse to have children based on the way the world is, but sadly, a lot of my friends have chosen the same path.
My husband and I are on the same page against development, for a closer-knit community, for helping people. We WANT to know our neighbors and have to remind ourselves that it probably isn't anything personal when people don't wave back, or pretend not to see you.
In our new small town, the older folks wave. Many times, the younger folks, the folks our age, don't. It's such a loss... |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 09:14:47 AM
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Amen!
I stand my land daily and thank God the creator for all the beauty that surrounds me and I ask that for one more day every day of my life I can continue to build upon what I have begun and reach out to touch others with this vision. I ask that the corporate buyers remain unaware of this tiny community and allow us to remain a small town with small town ways. I too continue to prod my representatives in government even though sometimes I get messages returned unread. I pray that the messages will be read by the right persons who can make a difference.
By being involved in this forum we are all finding out that there are more of us out there than any of us ever thought possible. We just need to get our heads together to figure out a way to get the needed things done!
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 09:24:45 AM
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Girls, Im just using examples, maybe poor choice of words, but hopefully you got my point. I dont think there is a more NON-VIOLENT person then myself. I go to any extremes for peace, just trying to make a point!! Michele
"she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands". Prov. 31:13 |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 7:19:08 PM
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The world needs more non-violent people.
However, I prefer the old saying "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Which I do: there are a lot of loose dogs in my neighborhood and a number of them are not nice.
I respect people who are non-violent. I prefer my peace and quiet and would rather never have to carry a stick with me on my walks. But: if there is a problem in my yard, if there is a loose dog looking like it will attack me or my dogs, I will take care of it.
And it isn't that I hate loose dogs, either. I seem to take in a stray dog every 3 months and re-home it).
The world needs pacifists, and fighters. |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 7:37:34 PM
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There are the sheep, sheep dogs, and the wolves. I think I am a sheep dog where my family and way of life are concerned...
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2005 : 7:43:34 PM
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Another interesting article from the NY Times...Seems to go along with what we were discussing here... Alice Waters is a revolutionary in Sustainable Ag and Organic Foods. She says it all starts at the dinner table and what we put in our mouths.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/dining/06scho.html?8hpib It this url doesn't work google Alice Waters and you will find the article about getting your kids to eat their veggies.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb101.html |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2005 : 12:17:07 AM
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| Thymeforewefarm, or anyone who might know... The website you posted is really interested. What do you suppose it means when almost 70% of the ownership shares are not attributed to anyone? One guy is listed and he only holds 33.3%. |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2005 : 09:24:52 AM
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I totally agree. I also agree that we need to go back about 50 yrs to the way things used to be. Farm, Family and Church. People used to get dressed up to go to the movies and to friends for dinner.
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
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A Farm of My Own: Rising Costs of Farm-Land Ownership |
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Rising Costs of Farm-Land Ownership
