Osprey - 1-28-2016 at 08:37 AM
Born to be a New Age Farmer
Down here in Baja California Sur some of my neighbors in this little fishing village are snowbirds who rent their beach homes when they are away. Some
of their return renters are U.S. farmers whom I’ve met on occasion. Some were friendly and candid and from them I learned a little about how they live
and work growing all kinds of crops in places like Colorado, Louisiana, Kansas, etc.
I always thought of farmers as really hard working people, up with the sun and working into the night to break even or get a little ahead of the game
but now with the various U.S. farm subsidies and the fact that they take the winters off I’m beginning to change my view. The subsidy thing is a
little touchy so instead of prying I got online and on my Magic Jack phone to learn what the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to say about all of
that.
Took me a while but I finally got a living, breathing rep on the phone and told him I was thinking about buying a farm in Indiana and I had some
questions about crops and subsidies. I let him know I wasn’t stuck on Indiana and might change my mind on that depending on subsidy zones and crop
subsidies available. He said his name was Virgil and he sounded pretty laid back so I opened up and let him know I’m a proud man and I wouldn’t take
money from the government to not grow just any old crop. For example I love carrots and they’d have to pay me a lot more not to grow carrots than they
would to not grow rutabagas or sugar beets for that matter.
We took our time and went through the list of subsidies available, by state, to not grow particular crops. I kidded him a little by reminding him that
farms in northern states don’t, can’t grow crops in the winter and that I wouldn’t expect as much payment then as in the summer when I would agree not
to grow peas or rice or sorghum.
Lots of rules to follow; got to remember not to ask too much for feed crops if the feed is for animals you grow for sale. He balked when I asked if I
could get rotation crop money on land I let go fallow to get the subsidy. He strongly suggested I use the subsidy money to improve the land on which I
would grow non-subsidy crops. None of his business really but why fight about it.
I almost lost him when I started asking about money available if I didn’t farm at all – now that seems like a win-win to me. He nearly scolded me
saying the subsidies are to offset money I might lose for crops sold at a given price. I said “Virgil, careful now, you’re making my point exactly.”
“Virgil, one more thing before I let you go. Can’t thank you enough for your help today. I learned a lot. If I do this, and it might be soon, what
would you say to being a silent partner? You’re not going to retire in style with a G 7 or 8 and some extra bullion in a safe somewhere waiting for
you would sure help. Of course I would leave it up to you to see if it’s all legit, allowed where you work or just not say anything about it. Just
think about it. My Email address is gsmith59@gmail.com.”
Udo - 1-28-2016 at 09:57 AM
Thanks for the non-fiction story, George!
It's no wonder that there are so many farms and farm land in the "TORNADO" belt zone.
These farmers get paid for growing nothing, get their homes rebuilt for nothing because it is part of the "farm," and get paid again to re-grow
nothing when their land got devastated by the tornado.
Isn't the US government great?
AKgringo - 1-28-2016 at 09:58 AM
My family has over 90 acres of timber and oak. With all the bug killed, and fire killed trees in northern CA right now, there is a glut of timber at
the mills.
Did you find a program that will pay me to not cut them? Unlike some crops, timber can be 'not cut' year round!
Osprey - 1-28-2016 at 10:03 AM
Ak, you won't get any stumpage.
durrelllrobert - 1-28-2016 at 11:17 AM
Don't think there are any subsidies for NOT growing marijuana and with allthe new legalization going on it will soon become the number 1 cash crop.
pauldavidmena - 1-28-2016 at 03:50 PM
I've not grown a large variety of crops for my entire life. I'm not trying to be greedy - just looking for a little payback on all those tax dollars.
bajaguy - 1-28-2016 at 04:01 PM
I am not going to milk the cows that I do not have after feeding them the corn I did not grow.
Maybe I can get 3 government checks 
alacran - 1-28-2016 at 07:14 PM
VIVA AMERICA.
BajaBlanca - 1-29-2016 at 12:39 PM
cool yarn!