This Online Post Explains Why Farmers Are Struggling Right Now
Inflation is real. Our everyday costs have increased and wages haven't in many cases risen to accommodate the higher costs of goods and services. For many of us we all deal with it in our own ways, but for a percentage of America's Heartland, the producers, the increased costs are like a rising tide, threatening to drown local producers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. One farmer from Michigan put together a post online that attempts to explain what is going on, so that non-rural, non-producers can understand what is going on, and it's powerful.
The post, attributed to a Michigan dairy farmer, will hit you right between the eyes if you don't realize the crippling costs now associated with producing the food and materials we use here in the US and worldwide.
"Let’s pretend your house payment rises from $1500 a month to $3000 - $4000 a month. Then add on your electric bill which went from $100 a month to $300 - $400 a month. Then add on your health insurance that grew from $300 a month to $600 - $700 a month. Your heating bill went from $200 to $400-$500 a month, oh and you must add on a $75 delivery fee on top of that. Your food bill rises from $400 a month to $800 a month. Transportation costs rise from $100 a month to $400 a month.
Using the low-end numbers your expenses to survive goes from $2600 a month to $5675. That’s an increase of $3075.
Oh, by the way, your wages have been cut, then the following month maybe up 5% and then down 25% or more.
Oh, I forgot. If it rains it might take away from your income. Or if it snows at the wrong time.
You’re beginning to see what farmers are facing and have been partially living with.
This spring – right now we are trying to decide what crops to plant. What do we need to continue to produce food. Seed costs, fertilizer costs, fuel costs – up 100% to 300%. This will kill some farms. This will greatly hurt other farms. Some farms will adjust and survive.
That may not seem like anything you should be concerned about.
Until . . .
The grocery stores are more empty. The food you can find will cost more. The medicines you need may be in short supply. Other goods – tires, makeup, clothing, and on and on it goes will change in availability.
Pray for your country. Pray for your farmers."
There may come a day, hopefully, no time soon, where farming and producing will be done on a community co-op scale, large tracts of land surrounding a town, where everyone comes out and does their part, or possibly only the large corporate farms will be left based on the costs associated with growing crops and raising livestock.
I hope we can find a way to ease the financial burdens of local producers, because a world without producers, really isn't a world we would want to live in.
Top 32 Spots that People in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois Want to Visit ASAP
When the temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Iowa are thinking one thing, "Where can I escape to right now?". I asked that question in a fun survey and here are the top answers of our dream destinations. Huge bonus to the destinations that are warmer and have a beach!