Farm aide bill

[Elcid_Fowler]

I can't dispute any of your argument. It IS the nature of the beast, just like you say.

We've already had this argument and it went nowhere, but I'll bite. The whole thing boils down to cost of food...

Prime example: Have you noticed pork prices falling in the last 2 months? Smithfield sold out to a Chinese outfit. They are now paying growers 18 cent a lb. "Smithfield" now ships hogs to China, slaughters them and boats back frozen pork, all to get around US slaughter rules. Don't believe it? YouTube search it. Dudes cutting up hogs in rubber boots and BVD's.

Back to cost of food.... Now this is great for JoeBlow who likes ribs, but for the contract hog grower who was getting 80 cent 2 years ago, he's now out of business, UNLESS he was subsidized. If not, the cyclical nature of commodity prices pushes back in a year or 2 and pork goes back up. Only this time, no grower to grow the meat. Your ribs cost too much to buy. You want Mexican steaks? Korean chickens? Chinese pork?

Ok so now I'll bite. How is subsidizing keeping jobs here long term? This concept of jobs going overseas is not something that has popped up overnight.

[SaltMuck]

Ok so now I'll bite. How is subsidizing keeping jobs here long term? This concept of jobs going overseas is not something that has popped up overnight.

Nothing new. Companies like sending their production to China, it's cheaper.

In this case China (government) funded the acquisition. Now why would China want to purchase 25% of pork production in the US?? Why would they pay 30% more than the worth of the company? We are talking something much more complicated that making happy meal toys or light bulbs in Hong Kong. They are not basic needs of mankind.

I'm sorry if I haven't explained how subsidizing farmers will keep them in business, this is the best I can do for you.

[SaltMuck]

Most old farmers I know have lived though the boom & bust cycles of farming, they also predicted that this bust cycle would happen.

This legislation has nothing to do with a "bust cycle." It's the result of a 1,000 year flood and a 2 month drought. Of course I'm sure you already knew that.You must have missed the 1st sentence of the bill:

The General Assembly finds that:

(1) The historic flood of October 2015 caused unprecedented damage to the State and its people, with particular devastating statewide impacts on South Carolina farmers and the state's agriculture industry.







The old-timers predicted a 1,000 year flood?

Riiiighht..............

[LabLuvR]

Sure the farmer has skin in the game, but he did not have enough skin in the game. He should have had some crop insurance. Look at it this way, the owner of a business has zero property insurance and his building burns. Would you have any sympathy for that guy? Or a business owner dies, without having key person insurance. He dies and the business goes up in smoke. Would you feel sorry for him. Yes, probably would in a small way, but they both new the risk and chose not to address it.

[SaltMuck]

Sure the farmer has skin in the game, but he did not have enough skin in the game. He should have had some crop insurance. Look at it this way, the owner of a business has zero property insurance and his building burns. Would you have any sympathy for that guy? Or a business owner dies, without having key person insurance. He dies and the business goes up in smoke. Would you feel sorry for him. Yes, probably would in a small way, but they both new the risk and chose not to address it.

I'd have the same outlook, but crop insurance isn't what you think. I'm working up a emergency loan for a guy who has above-County average yields for grain sorghum. On his 200 acres, he yielded only ~$6,000 in crop sales. Crop Insurance paid him ~$10,000, so his gross farm income($16k) of $80/Ac won't cover the crop input cost of ~$300. See the problem?

[Glenn]

What a crock. So you going to roll this back out when there isn't any rain? Ice damage to timber? Wind damage?

[turbo]

What a crock. So you going to roll this back out when there isn't any rain? Ice damage to timber? Wind damage?

Ease up on 'em now.

They haven't had a whole lot'a time to let this'n sink in just yet.

[Geetch]

A few definitions for the esteemed politician.

Aide: (noun) an assistant to an important person, especially to a political leader.

Aid: (verb) help, assist, or support (someone or something) in the achievement of something.
(noun) help, typically of a practical nature.

It seems DuckTape needs an aide to aid him with his grammar in the Farm Aid Bill.

[Glenn]

Nobody likes welfare until it's their welfare.

[marsh chicken]

I'd have the same outlook, but crop insurance isn't what you think. I'm working up a emergency loan for a guy who has above-County average yields for grain sorghum. On his 200 acres, he yielded only ~$6,000 in crop sales. Crop Insurance paid him ~$10,000, so his gross farm income($16k) of $80/Ac won't cover the crop input cost of ~$300. See the problem?

Yes, I see the problem. The guy lost money on a business deal. It happens. What happens to the extra profits he generates in the years he has a bumper crop?

[duckduckdog]

Nobody likes welfare until it's their welfare.

Yes, I see the problem. The guy lost money on a business deal. It happens. What happens to the extra profits he generates in the years he has a bumper crop?

Don't be doing all that higher level thinking.... what we doing here is making sure Bubba don't have to loose his new Z71..... My Dad farmed up until just a few years ago. There were when he wasn't farming he was working other jobs. Not because there wasn't many years that he could and did make a good living at farming, but because it was never a guarantee. "The bank don't accept dried up corn stalks, and sometimes, that all I have - so I work"

[Fish]

If it isn't what we might think it is, then why buy it?

Here's a short story for you to contemplate. We insured a flock of turkeys back several years ago, before the integrator took away the profitability of growing turkeys. Anyway, there was an intense week of heat - 100 plus degrees in the daylight and lows around 90. It occurred when our flock was at 19/20 weeks. They were scheduled to have been picked up at 18 weeks, but the integrator changed our pickup and we lost well over half the flock.

Again, we were insured. That insurance was about $6,000. Our loss was due to an act of God. The insurance company refused to pay us and others. There was a class action lawsuit. That company no longer exists. The man who sold the insurance is disgraced.

Back to the integrators. The deal we and many others are getting from the integrator is so bad, we decided to stop growing altogether. Its that damn bad. But we're lucky. We own the farm outright. Almost everyone else is beholden to a loan, so they basically have to eat whatever shit sandwich the integrator comes up with. And now, some of these people live in poverty. The amount paid out to the best performers is approaching 60% less than what they earned only 8 years ago. And no matter what the integrator might tell you, this is not a performance issue.

They're lying crooks.

Seems to me that if the legislators wanted to make a difference, they might start with the insurers. I wonder if there are any insurance lobbyists running around up there. How about lobbyists from the integrators? The one's who are supposed to be kept in check by existing laws but aren't because of political influence.

Sorry about getting off track.

[FHF]

[QUOTE=SaltMuck;2109092]This legislation has nothing to do with a "bust cycle." It's the result of a 1,000 year flood and a 2 month drought. Of course I'm sure you already knew that.You must have missed the 1st sentence of the bill:

The General Assembly finds that:

(1) The historic flood of October 2015 caused unprecedented damage to the State and its people, with particular devastating statewide impacts on South Carolina farmers and the state's agriculture industry.


FYI.... Every "bust" cycle has a cause...drought, heat, rain, insects, disease

[FHF]

Yes, I see the problem. The guy lost money on a business deal. It happens. What happens to the extra profits he generates in the years he has a bumper crop?

Exactly!


I hate it for them and it sucks, but it happens in every every business.

[Sparkleberry Ridge Runner]

What about the cotton gin owner, or peanut plant processor, or cucumber shed, or timber company, or feed and seed store owners who ALL suffered the same loss but will have to pay back the money they get when times become good again?

[jevans]

What about the cotton gin owner, or peanut plant processor, or cucumber shed, or timber company, or feed and seed store owners who ALL suffered the same loss but will have to pay back the money they get when times become good again?

This.

[Mergie Master]

Too big to fail...

Now too small to fail...

What about those poor folks that fall in the middle? Not only are they not getting a handout, it's their taxes y'all use to pay these handouts.

[Sportin' Woodies]

I'd rather see a handout go to someone that sure as hell has paid in.

[SaltMuck]

[quote=FHF;2109178]

This legislation has nothing to do with a "bust cycle." It's the result of a 1,000 year flood and a 2 month drought. Of course I'm sure you already knew that.You must have missed the 1st sentence of the bill:

The General Assembly finds that:

(1) The historic flood of October 2015 caused unprecedented damage to the State and its people, with particular devastating statewide impacts on South Carolina farmers and the state's agriculture industry.


FYI.... Every "bust" cycle has a cause...drought, heat, rain, insects, disease

Not sure why you call the reason for the bill a bust. This is a regional weather event. Bust has to do with prices, which were at rock bottom in Jan '15.

[SaltMuck]

I'd rather see a handout go to someone that sure as hell has paid in.

The grower I refered to earlier paid $15k in taxes last year. Does he qualify under your program?