Saw a good example of the benifits of Modern Homesteading on the evening news(Political)

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Tonite on the evening news, there was a piece on the woes of the American farmer not being able to get started with this seasons crops because the two houses of Congress cannot agree on a farm bill for this year. The news piece was addressing how the large family farms cannot risk putting in crops without the government backing provided by the farm bill. While watching this, I thought of how lucky those of us that farm "truck gardens " are. We simply plant what consumers in our area will buy to eat, pick it and go to the local growers market to get a small return on a portion of our labors that are primarily for stocking our own pantries. I sure am glad that I don't have to worry about what our Congress has to pass before I decide what I want to plant. As you go out to your one, five, 10 or 20 acres and figure how to make your yields meet your goals, have a compasionate thought for those large scale farmers whose livelyhoods rely on the actions of the bureaucrats just to see tomorrow. So many here seek a definition of "modern homesteading" and self sufficiency. Maybe the freedom to decide the crop variety of your small parcel to the tastes of yourself and your local market is a major part of that definition.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 05, 2002

Answers

the sad thing is that the government allowing cheap stuff, from places that can use even yuckier sprays on their stuff, into the country en mass is why the farmers have to have the 'backing' in the first place.

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), March 06, 2002.

Then there is the raw iron tarriffs that are being set. This will result in some of our bigger grain importers (China) coming up with tarriffs/bans of their own - against grain, which will depress prices more.

It is difficult to be an independent farmer & raise bulk corn & beans & wheat, when the marketplace gets manipulated politically. As much as all farmers wish to be rid of the subsidies, politics will always interfere. However, if the USA does not offer subsidies to stablize prices, we will not raise enough grains of our own, and then we will depend upon imports for our food supply - do we want a food OPEC controling our food supply?

Certainly a difficult & thorny set of issues.

--->Paul

-- paul (ramblerplm@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.


Three farmers in the rural county where I live have in the past received: Nearly a million, over a half million, and the farmer who owns the farm adjacent to mine, $271,000 in government subsidies according to the list on the Internet.

Is the government "really" helping the small farmer to survive?

-- J McFerrin (JMcFerrin@aol.com), March 06, 2002.


Quite the contrary.......the government has done everything in their power to smash the small family farmer. Step by step, always in the name of consumer protection mind you. Yes, I am firmly an opponent of ANY farm welfare.........but then I never supported ANYONE who supported NATFA. So there you have it.........we just can't have it all. Free trade, farm welfare, big business wanting cheap labor and cheap Americans wanting something for almost nothing. It all goes hand in hand. We get what we ask for.

Yes Jay, I love it. Counting my empty jars and deciding what I need to fill and looking at my notes from people last year who want me to grow stuff for them. No government money here!!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.


NAFTA? O.K. Chuck............where is the spell checker?? LOL

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.


Not to mention the safety net the small homesteaders have, in raising crops which can also be used as food for themselves or their livestock if the market suddenly gets flooded or turns around.

Or in case the homesteader who makes a living off the farm is suddenly terminated in their job, at least they won't worry about food bills.

I hate the large scale "farmer", who farms Uncle Sam rather than the market. Down here, large tracts of cheap brushland have been purchased from cattle ranchers leaving the business, then this property were(and are still) bulldozed, and then planted with crops that are sure to fail, in our drought striken land. These "farmers" aren't interested in losing money, they will collect large amounts of crop insurance. Oughta be illegal, but for now, SCAM still works fine.

Self reliance definitely has advantages, you may not get rich, but you got eats for you and yourn.

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), March 06, 2002.


Almost forgot to add . . .

diane, you are so right. NAFTA was suppose to be a win-win situation. The only people I see winning is the business owner. Mexican truck drivers are being pressured to have their trucks up to American specs. when driving our roads. Mexico owes the state of Texas something like a million acre feet of water, which that country is keeping from flowing down their rivers to the Rio Grande, to allow rich Mexican farmers an unfair allotment of water, while American farmers down here are hurt by drought AND water shortages for irrigation.

The Mexican government is not any better. Mexican businesses hate to lose their business to Mexicans who cross the border and buy American goods. The pressured the government to write laws which allow Mexicans only so much foreign materials to cross back into Mexico. I believe the limit is $500. So the Mexican shopper come empty handed into the U.S., buy luggage, then fill them with newly purchased clothing, and claim they came on vacation to the U.S., and the clothing was theirs already to begin with. Sometimes, this clothing still has the tag on them!

NAFTA . . . one thing (maybe the only thing?) that Ross Perot was correct; Americans have, continue and are going to suffer.

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), March 06, 2002.


yeah j.r. I didn't care much for Ross but will always remember him talking about the "giant sucking sound". LOL

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

Hello Folks,

I agree with you all about not making any money at homesteading but, we do have plenty of food! If I am going to be poor, I'd rather be poor in the country where I can grow my own food than, poor in the city eating out of dumpsters.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.


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