As a farmer, I am very used to seeing or hearing inaccuracies about agriculture in the media. It is usually something simple — hay being called straw, eggs said to come out of a chicken’s “butt”, a hair sheep referred to as a goat — and such things cause me to laugh, shake my head, and go on with my life. If anything, such an experience simply becomes a new opportunity for me to quiz my interns to ensure they know the proper information. Every once in awhile, though, an inaccurate portrayal of farming makes me angry. I am sadly used to the false propaganda used by activists groups that oppose agriculture. Such things bother me, but I do not waste time when I recognize that the person perpetuating the falsehood intends to do so for their own purposes. What makes me angry, though, is when someone who means well unwittingly presents farming in an inaccurate way that could harm perceptions of the whole farm community.
Recently, I was listening to a podcast that I enjoy. It is based in Central Ohio, and this episode featured a comedian who is now living west of Columbus in a rural community. I was quite enjoying his humor about adjusting to a farming community, getting chickens, and leaving an urban lifestyle behind. I was very taken aback, however, by his representation that farmers are all a bunch of socialists with their dependence on huge government subsidies. It was said in a light-hearted way of attempting to contrast the traditional conservative values of farmers with the personal political beliefs of this comedian. It upset me, though, as it made me realize yet again how misunderstood agriculture is in our country. It upset me to think how hard I work to barely scrape by, yet a misperception was being shared that farmers are effortlessly flourishing thanks to government tax dollars.
For most of my life in farming, I had very little to do with government programs. I always joke that goats are libertarians by nature, and thus there are no commodity programs for small ruminants. In the early 2000s, during a drought year, my mother had me fill out documentation to receive funds that were allocated for livestock farmers struggling with poor pastures. At the time, my mother & I were partners in the goat endeavor, and so I followed her suggestion. I received a check for a couple hundred dollars, which was a huge help to buy hay. Having observed some of the frustrations of my mother’s experiences working with government programs, though, I did not pursue any further funding initiatives through the US Department of Agriculture. The goats & I happily struggled to make money through the free market — emphasis on the struggle.
When I became the farm owner, though, the annual tax bill became the fixation of my world. I have spent nearly my whole life working this farm, but I only became the legal owner in January 2017. And since that day, paying the tax bill has been the top priority of my life. We are incredibly fortunate in Ohio to have a program called CAUV, which allows farmland to be taxed on its current agricultural value. Even with that help, however, being in an urban county creates a much higher tax bill for me than the rates in neighboring counties. Most recently, the tax bill was around $120 per acre. In contrast, a friend of mine who farms in a neighboring county (which is more rural) has a tax bill of $45/acre. That is a big difference!
Raising livestock is a labor of love for me, but it is not the most profitable endeavor. As I became a new land owner, I strategized how to best find ways to use the farm to pay bills. My neighbor & I became partners in raising row crops on part of the farm. The first year (2017), we planted corn. The soil does best with a crop rotation, and corn was what the ground needed — even though soybeans would have made much more money. As a farmer, it is important for me to be a good steward of the land. Our first corn crop went well, and I was excited that we would plant soybeans in 2018 to bring in much-needed income. New land owners are faced with significant bills to pay, and I was anxious for income to pay down bills. Unfortunately, the trade war with China that was launched in 2018 rendered our soybeans of far less value than they would have had in any other year. Once again, I told myself that the next year would be better . . . And once again, it got worse.
Spring of 2019 was the wettest which I recall. Crops were delayed in planting. Then, after it rained and rained and rained, it suddenly stopped. We had a terrible drought through August and September. We were fortunate to get our corn harvested in a prudent time frame, but the weather impact was significant: in 2017, our corn produced 232 bushels per acre, but in 2019 it was only 165 bushels per acre. That is a very significant decrease in yield, not even considering the terrible prices at which the crops were sold. Rounding numbers, we sold approximately $15,000 of corn this year. Expenses were a little over $11,000. That left only $4,000 to put toward an annual tax bill of around $10,000. And that does not even consider all the other expenses of the farm.
Now coming back to why I bristled about the perception that farmers are receiving huge subsidies . . . Yes, I am sure that there are individuals receiving federal dollars in the realm of agriculture who are misusing the system. This happens in every government-funded program. The reality of the supplemental payment which I received through the Department of Agriculture is quite different than what the comedian theorized on that podcast. Through the Market Facilitation Program (set up to provide aid due to the trade difficulties facing American farmers), I received two payments totaling approximately $1,500. With that $1,500, I could put it toward the $10,000 tax bill, or I could pay my amazing herd manager for almost two weeks, or I could pay the feed bill for about the same time, or I could pay my health insurance for almost three months, or I could put it toward my loan payments . . . but in the scheme of operating a farm, the payments were a small amount. I am very, VERY grateful for that $1,500 — truly, thank you my fellow tax payers! — but I want to make sure it is understood that we farmers are not flush with cash thanks to bountiful government subsidy programs.
This summer I was having a conversation in which the other person told me about a TV show they watched which had featured a female entrepreneur. This business owner on TV stated that no one should start their own business unless they were willing to work 70 hours a week. The person with whom I was speaking shared with me how absolutely horrible this was, as no one should ever have to work more than forty hours a week! My face must have had quite a reaction, as the other person then nervously laughed and acknowledged that I likely worked 70 hours a week. I corrected them that actually my reaction was based on trying to mentally calculate if I could get down to 70 hours a week!
Being a farmer is a calling. It is not a job like other jobs. It is my responsibility every single day to care for the land God created and the creatures upon it. I know how incredibly fortunate I am. My family who came before me prepared me for this task, and I am surrounded by the most amazing friends in the whole world who support me continually. I get to do what I love every single day, with a level of independence that I cherish. But it does not come easy. It is hard to believe that I could work all year with little rest, add successful new opportunities for our farm, expand our markets, have a wonderful team working with me . . . And still find myself perilously managing the debt at the end of the year. Virgil Harrison taught me well that it will get worse, and the animals & I will keep endeavoring to persevere. Transparency is very important to me as a farmer, and I want my writing to be a window into my life in agriculture. And the one thing I can definitively verify (no matter the many arguments related to the current farm programs) is that this farmer is not getting rich from abundant government subsidy payments. Frankly, I doubt any could.
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