Farmers Need To Work Together
With milk prices predicted to drop to below cost of producing milk, dairy farmers face serious financial problems in the coming months. Grain prices continue…
With milk prices predicted to drop to below cost of producing milk, dairy farmers face serious financial problems in the coming months. Grain prices continue to be at levels that also cause concern on area family farms, both large and small.
Farmers need prices that will provide their families with a reasonable family income. Again, this applies to all kinds and sizes of farms. Take the locally grown food idea, for example. It is a good idea because it can provide some locally grown food for dinner tables.
But, these small farms either have to supplement income from other jobs or they have to be big enough to have the volume to provide a reasonable income. Unless farms of all sizes have enough income for the family to live on, they have to have other income. If they do not, then they can’t stay in business. The family has to live and today, everyone wants a good standard of living.
Supporting the grow local, buy local idea can provide additional income for small farms that are not big enough for conventional farming. These small farms can be a source of income and local food.
But, one needs to keep in mind that they will not provide enough food to feed the people in the United States. They tend to be labor intensive. That is, they take much labor for the amount of food they produce. Unless they are well managed, they can also be inefficient. They produce lower amounts of food for the labor, time and expense they take.
What this says is there is a place for farms of all sizes. Without the larger family farms in the local area and across the country, there would be many more hungry people than there are unfortunately today. It is on these larger family farms that are more efficient that one finds the food produced that helps prevent huger in the country.
These more efficient farms also help keep the cost of food down. In the United States, Americans can buy their food at the lowest cost of any country in the world. Credit for that goes to the mid-size to larger farms around.
Farms that I am referring to are not corporate farms. They are owned and managed by the family. Only about 4 percent of the farms in the United States are corporate farms. In the local area, there is not a single corporate farm.
What is necessary is for farms of all sizes and types to recognize that they are all needed. The small ones need the larger ones, the organic farmers need those who produce food on conventional farms and local growers need to support the larger family farms. Farmers need to remember that they are all in the same boat. They are in the food producing business and should speak with one voice.
By working together, farmers can tell their true story in a way that those who buy their food can understand. Farmers can tell their story better than anyone can tell it for them. By working together, they will have a larger voice.
Support for the local growing and marketing idea is a good idea. At the same time, that group should recognize the value of the larger family farm. There are a number of 400 to 500 acre farms on up to 2,000 and 3,000 acre farms in the area that are good family farms. They are owned and managed by families. They deserve as much or more support as do the small grow local farmers.
Working together can get the job done.
Parker is an independent agricultural writer.
