We can debate who is a real farmer all we want, but the fact remains that farms are valuable.
"Farmers" are going to be the object of scorn because, as a class, they voted for Trump AND are already squawking for a bailout.
Most of the bailout is, by definition, going to go to corporate farmers. They have most of the land. If you want to define them out of farmer category, then we should go ahead and do that.
Anyhow, what is a corporate farmer? Is a farmer who owns 1000 acres and contracts to farm another 5000 a corporate farmer? They are presumably incorporated. I can think of a rice farmer who operates on that model off the top of my head.
I can think of three family-run, small-scale vineyards/wineries off the top of my head. Wine is going to be really hard hit by tariffs. They probably also lost money last year, as the wine market is down. The probably have a more ethical claim as grapes are not federally subsidized.
These farms are also owned by people who made tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in other areas before buying land and literally building farms from scratch.
A friend tells a story about going on a date with the heiress of the largest owner/processor of prunes in the state of California. This is literally a family operation. She was disappointed that he didn't own a jet!
What is the limit? Where do we draw the line?
I understand the farm nostalgia. I lived in Vermont and the Midwest. There is an attraction to the idea of a small farm outside of town. I live in a county on the California coast where small farms produce artisanal, organic milk and eggs from barns overlooking the ocean. It's really pretty to bike through.
I also know that California is the biggest agricultural state in the country. Small farms are endangered because they cannot compete with factory operations. I can see the aggregation of land and environmental devastation as we get more efficient.
Towns that used to hum with activity are now dying because we keep getting more efficient and need fewer people for the same amount of farming. Pheasant and duck seasons are impacted because more efficient farming leaves less habitat. This impacts tourism during the farming off-season.
We should not bail out people who vote against their own interests.
We can debate who is a real farmer all we want, but the fact remains that farms are valuable.
"Farmers" are going to be the object of scorn because, as a class, they voted for Trump AND are already squawking for a bailout.
Most of the bailout is, by definition, going to go to corporate farmers. They have most of the land. If you want to define them out of farmer category, then we should go ahead and do that.
Anyhow, what is a corporate farmer? Is a farmer who owns 1000 acres and contracts to farm another 5000 a corporate farmer? They are presumably incorporated. I can think of a rice farmer who operates on that model off the top of my head.
I can think of three family-run, small-scale vineyards/wineries off the top of my head. Wine is going to be really hard hit by tariffs. They probably also lost money last year, as the wine market is down. The probably have a more ethical claim as grapes are not federally subsidized.
These farms are also owned by people who made tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in other areas before buying land and literally building farms from scratch.
A friend tells a story about going on a date with the heiress of the largest owner/processor of prunes in the state of California. This is literally a family operation. She was disappointed that he didn't own a jet!
What is the limit? Where do we draw the line?
I understand the farm nostalgia. I lived in Vermont and the Midwest. There is an attraction to the idea of a small farm outside of town. I live in a county on the California coast where small farms produce artisanal, organic milk and eggs from barns overlooking the ocean. It's really pretty to bike through.
I also know that California is the biggest agricultural state in the country. Small farms are endangered because they cannot compete with factory operations. I can see the aggregation of land and environmental devastation as we get more efficient.
Towns that used to hum with activity are now dying because we keep getting more efficient and need fewer people for the same amount of farming. Pheasant and duck seasons are impacted because more efficient farming leaves less habitat. This impacts tourism during the farming off-season.
We should not bail out people who vote against their own interests.