Students as Farm Laborers

Many of the comments on the NY Times article I linked to below said that farmers should hire students. My guess is that's more difficult than one might imagine. Any given farmer for any given crop needs harvesting labor only for the period the fruit is ripe. In the wheat belt, I understand that harvesting crews follow the custom harvesters north, from Texas into Canada. That setup is probably better able to attract students than fruit and vegetable. I remember in my youth buses of migrant labor (black or "Negro" as we said then) would arrive to pick beans for canning (just a handful of fields in my area, on the river floodplain). They'd go north for other crops. And the film, "The Ciderhouse Rules", shows a similar setup for apples at a later date. But somehow I can't imagine today's parents of college-bound children encouraging them to follow the crops north as harvesters.

As for dairy, the other type of farming in the piece, not many teenagers are willing to get up at 4 am for first milking.

Lack of Labor for Fruits and Vegetables

The NYTimes has a nice article on the problems facing NY fruit and vegetable growers (yes, NY state is more than the Big Apple, lots of small apples and even some cabbage grown in Ontario County and points west, where my paternal grandmother grew up) because of lack of labor.

One dairy farmer bit the bullet and spent over $1 million for 4 robot milkers. (He has 700 cows.) Much of the problem is twofold--natives won't work for the wages farmers can pay and immigrant labor is uncertain, given the hype over closing the borders, etc. Unfortunately, while organic farms can attract "interns" (meaning low paid, unskilled labor) by providing psychic benefits, the run of the mill fruit or dairy farm can't. Just not that many suckers born. (Sorry--it's warm and humid today and my temper is uncertain, I don't really mean to be mean to the young who believe in saving the world by veggies and organic labor.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has an article on the problems with empty houses in the suburbs--abandoned due to foreclosures. No explicit link in the article to the crackdown on immigrants, but I make that link. Of course, many believers in organics are anti-globalism, which in my mind means anti-immigrants. A tangled web, indeed.

Your Principal Is Your Pal

One would think an eminent college professor, particularly one in the field of English literature, would know this. But no: "Who were the principle players?"

From Stanley Fish's blog post on a proposal by the University of Colorado to have a Chair on Conservative Thought and Policy. (He's against.)

I know, I'm showing my age (and my blue pencil past) but such mistakes gripe me. (And don't get me started on "its" and "it's", which no one these days knows how to use.

Second Most Credulous Line I Read Today

From the Washington Times (similar stats on other media outlets):

For the 21st year in a row, the two-wheeled crusade called Rolling Thunder has taken over the capital of the free world. An estimated 350,000 motorcyclists — plus their intrepid passengers, activists, organizers, fans and awestruck spectators — have assembled here to draw America's attention to fallen soldiers, lost warriors, prisoners of war, honored veterans and military families.

It's true enough--someone came up with the "estimate". The only difference between Rolling Thunder and the "pro-life" or "anti-war" or whatever rallies and marches is the existence of an opposition with a motive to question the accuracy of the estimates. Rolling Thunder seems to be a sacred cow.

Most Credulous Line I Read Today

This title of a post on Casaubon's Book: "Fascinating Read". It refers to a Russian scholar who claims to have identified a famine in the U.S. during the Great Depression such that "United States lost over seven million people during the famine of 1932-1933".

Just shows what happens when people (the scholar) focus on statistics too much and on life too little. See this table.

Iowa Farming Today

From the summary of an Iowa State study of Iowa commercial farmers 2000-2007:

Within the IAFBA data set, the top 20 percent have improved their financial standing significantly over the period. The lowest 20 percent have made little financial progress. Between these extremes we see farm businesses, at varying degrees, meeting outside cash obligations and strengthening their equity position.

This study provides a snapshot of Iowa commercial farmers’ financial strengths at the beginning of the ethanol-fueled price boom and a new Farm Bill. We expect, for a few years at least, that commodity prices will continue to be strong. The grain price increases may result in cutbacks in livestock profitability depending on the growth in meat demand. Ultimately strong farm profits will be bid into land, [bolding added] rents and other asset values, resulting in tighter more volatile margins.

If commodity prices do remain strong, one of the unresolved questions is how the farms represented by the panel will fare. Will a rising tide lift all boats or will the range in adjusted cash income become wider? The lower 20 percent group has higher debt-to-asset ratios and is more dependent [bolding added] upon government payments as a source of cash income. This group may be more vulnerable to changes in the cost structure of agricultural assets. And, it is unclear how the new farm bill will influence farm income and equity growth across this rather broad spectrum of farm structures. Farm size, enterprise mix, financial condition and human capital will all contribute to the ability of farmers to adapt to changing conditions. The full version of this report is available at: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/FM1883.pdf

The fact that the poorest 20 percent are most dependent on payments is a clue to the persistence of government farm programs. And the idea that profits get bid into land means landowners ultimately benefit from government payments. (Some landowners are farmers, some retired farmers, some widows of farmers, and some are absentee--speculating or, like Ted Turner, pleasing themselves.)

Napoleon Got There First--Mothers Day

It was the Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest who supposedly said (but he didn't) "I get there firstest with the mostest", but it was Napoleon Bonaparte who first honored mothers, according to this post by Mr. Beauregarde. (Actually, it seems it was a day to honor procreation, as befits the French.)

FSA Tries an Outreach--Mike Zook

FSA/USDA has been criticized over the decades for representing the mainstream, "progressive" farmer (i.e., aka now "industrialized") and ignoring minorities, small farmers, specialized crops, organics, etc. Much of the criticism is justified, though some isn't.

But here's an article from the Havre Daily News on some of the problems and complications faced when one county committee and office (Hill County, MT) tries an outreach to the Chippewa Cree. It takes persistence (10 years to change the zoning for county elections) and the ability to overcome bureaucratic obstacles (even within the tribe).

Credit to Mike Zook for trying.

Bureaucrat Is Pictured

I'm ambivalent about linking to this post, but it's not everyday a bureaucrat makes history, even if it's as a subject in a Lucian Freud painting. (No, it's not my idea of beauty but to each his/her own.)

The Perils of Centralization

Dirk Beauregard posts on the virtues and vices of having a centralized country. (Like no newspaper.) I follow his blog because it points out the very great differences between the U.S. and France. It's a reminder of how decentralized we are and how weak the federal government is, when compared to other countries.