Can I have your opinion?

[Anonymous]

I was hoping I could get some of your opinions. This is for a project I am working on. If you could just let me know what you think I would really appreciate it.<p>What is the biggest issue facing todays farmers?<p>Thanks a bunch!<br>Jen<br>[email protected]
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[Anonymous]

Beef farming is different than grain farming beef farmers can not afford grain farmers land. I personally believe the biggest problem is the growing number of people in the country. This is causing smaller tracks of land and driving the price of ground up. Which in return is causing us to cover more acres to do the same job. The increased number of people also bring alot of regulations and with low profits it hard to maintain all the regulations. Plus government offices only work monday thru friday 8-4:30. So it increases our labor time. But the increased demand for property is a key factor
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[Anonymous]

Each operation is different. This year the biggest challenge I face is drought. Land is over priced, but I could have 3 times the land and still have no feed.<p>International subsidy wars distort market signals and thus farmers have no real idea what to grow. This is happening now with high calf prices, many people are jumping into beef production. When all the new calves hit the system it drives prices down. If you have too much debt when the downswing comes, your history.<p>Another factor is lack of accuracy in government reports. USDA keeps saying the cowherd is smaller, but the number of calves on feed keeps climbing. Wheat stocks were supposed to be lower, then all of a sudden millions of bushels appeared. Crop yields were supposed to be lower than average, then they are suddenly above average.<p>All these factors are responsible for trouble in agriculture. Its not simple, but we have to deal with it.<p>Jason Trowbridge<br>Southern Angus Farms<br>Alberta Canada
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[Anonymous]

suburban encroachment, too many regulations and restrictions (enviromentalists) and the government giving too many handouts (coming from taxes on top of taxes) to the lazy instead of helping out the farmer who carries this country and works 12 + hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year.
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[Anonymous]

I believe that corporate farms should be banned. Because they drive prices down and hurt the family farms. The corporate farms normally farm for a little profit percent and increase production to compensate. They have high debt loads and have no need to ever get out of debt. The corporation does business different then a family farm. This is what makes farming economics so difficult. The corporate farms are also responsible for the eviromental hassle because they user higher amounts of chemicals and other hazordous materials. Most family farms are not that unfriendly to the enviroment. Jason is correct there are so many variables it is hard to pick just one. But if you take your' car to be repaired the mechanic sets the price, Call an electrician, plumber, ect.. they set the price. Go to the store they set the price. Everybody sets their price, but the farmer takes what is given to him, What is wrong with that senario.
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[Anonymous]

Water rights, urban sprawl, imports, land value, lack of quality available land, lack of education and understanding within the general public in regards to agriculture, it's purpose, and how important agriculture is to the economy. the land, and our future.<p><p><p>
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[Anonymous]

" Antitrust laws under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department are enforced mostly from the consumer perspective - not the producer. Such focus not only removes producers from legal protection, it ensures that producers will not get legal protection because keeping prices low (what some of us call price-fixing) is seen as a consumer benefit and not liability. Efficiencies of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions, are no longer seen as anti-competitive, but as positive consumer benefits. Until price-fixing and lack of competition are clearly seen as liabilities to the consumers, producers will receive only cursory protection under existing law." Kathleen Kelley, a Colorado rancher. For her complete remarks and more, use link below.<br> Through the globel meat and grain commodity industry, American ag producers are put in direct compitition with producers from developing countries that don't have our burden of federal government mandated regulations. This will reduce American producers to their poverty level.
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<ul><li><a href="http://www.rcalf.com/news/visionremarks.html">Kelley's remarks</a></ul>
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[Anonymous]

: I was hoping I could get some of your opinions. This is for a project I am working on. If you could just let me know what you think I would really appreciate it.<p>: What is the biggest issue facing todays farmers?<p>: Thanks a bunch!<br>: Jen<br>: [email protected]<p><p>Great question Jen,<p>The same problem faces farmers and ranchers today, that has always faced us.We,can't do anything together.And the longer,we set back and live in the land of discounts and no premiums,it is not going to get any better.I'm willing to fight for my rights,are you?<p>Best Regards<br>Benjamin C Roberts

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[Anonymous]

We get anylower and we will all be bankrupt. This antitrust issue seems to be a big item if you are a larger farmer. It would destroy any small farmer with just an accusation. Yes it is a unfair advantage to us in the USA, but what would your' correction be to this law?
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[Anonymous]

I have never had the opportunity to review the antitrust laws. I have never needed to. It is a poor time to review them when need. How many pages are we talking? Is there a fix to these laws?
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[Anonymous]

: I was hoping I could get some of your opinions. This is for a project I am working on. If you could just let me know what you think I would really appreciate it.<p>: What is the biggest issue facing todays farmers?<p>: Thanks a bunch!<br>: Jen<br>: [email protected]<br>Jen<br>I think if you just read some of the postings on this site you can see exactly why land prices are out of reason for the farmer and rancher trying to make a full time living at farming and ranching.<br>People are buying a few acres to get out of the city and have no idea how to farm or ranch but do it any way. Look at the surveys and you will see most of the livestock owners have fewer than 50 head of cows, corporations or large farmers and ranchers are a very very small minority and do not dictate any price variance in my opinion. If any area causes problems its the little 30 to 40 acre farmer and ranchers as they are the majority

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[Anonymous]

Interpreting antitrust laws from a consumer perspective has allowed the big three packers to control over 80% of fed cattle processed in the U.S. The big three packers are global and own or have interest in foreign meat processing industries. ( Mr. Roberts should address this in further detail) They are now working to open the U.S. meat markets to more imported meats under the guise of keeping the cost of food low for the consumer. ( We all know how much the price of beef went down in 1995 & 1996 when we were getting $200-$300 for our calves.) Right now the beef industry has record beef output at 1960's U.S. cow herd numbers. Some people posting below can't understand how this is and blame it on bad government reporting. It's because there are over a million head of feeders coming from both Canada and Mexico ( many are trans-national calves coming from third party nations that aren't part of NAFTA) and the global packers and other foreign meat companies are importing the maximum amount of processed meat that they can. Why should packers pay more for domestic fat cattle, when they can buy foreign cattle and meat cheaper and import it?<br> Consumer perspective foreign trade policy has lead to the massive trade deficit we have and is the main contributing factor to the deterioration of U.S. Ag production industry and general manufactering base. We have an open door policy, while other countries restrict what we can import to them. Other countries should be allowed to import only as much as they allow us to import to their country.<br> Another foreign policy problem U.S. Ag faces, is that our competition (developing countries) has their ag industry developments financed by U.S. banks through the World Bank. To get these loans paid back, bankers want U.S. trade policy to favor developing countries' products on the world market. In the 1970's we had PL-480 (food for peace) where the U.S. government loaned money to poor nations so buy food from U.S. farmers. Today we loan poor nations money to buy food from the developing countries that our bankers have loans with so the bankers can get repaid at U.S. farmers expense. <br> A little aside to prove this last point and explain todays high gas prices. President Clinton sent Bill Richardson to OPEC in Feb. 1999 to ask them to reduce production and increase the price of crude oil. This was done so Russia, Mexico, Iran and Indonesia could increase their oil revenue to pay back loans to the World Bank ei: U.S. banks.
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[Anonymous]

now that sounds like big business at its finest. So in esscents we are going to suffer due to the fact that some big banks have made poor investments and are tring to recoop there loses.
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[Anonymous]

KK---I never ment that corporate farmers dictated price or controlled the market that way. I was implying that they produce more and make the same money with a smaller percent of the gross.
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[Anonymous]

The *#*@%&^@ EPA<p><p>: I was hoping I could get some of your opinions. This is for a project I am working on. If you could just let me know what you think I would really appreciate it.<p>: What is the biggest issue facing todays farmers?<p>: Thanks a bunch!<br>: Jen<br>: [email protected]<p>
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[Anonymous]

And that brings up the point that one of the largest problems facing ag producers today is sky-rocketing fuel prices, which affects the cost of everything we buy or produce.<br>: now that sounds like big business at its finest. So in esscents we are going to suffer due to the fact that some big banks have made poor investments and are tring to recoop there loses.<p>
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