Future of the Family Farm

I do not farm; neither does my family, but it just so happens that God has given me an incredible passion for farming families. You see, I live in Cove City, NC surrounded by cotton fields, tobacco crops, horse pastures and forestry. The beauty of it all is incredible, the peacefulness of watching what was sown, then grow and produce fruit, is so satisfying! To hear the knickers of the horses from my front porch, or the echo’s of cattle and donkey’s braying back and forth brings a smile to my face. To look out and see the red-tail hawks, the blue jays, cardinals and woodpeckers, to see an occasional deer, or even a bear reminds me that I am certainly not the center of the universe…… It is all of Creation, a blessing, to be able to live off of what we have been given.

I know these men and women who do work the land, I have seen the headlights from their tractors at wee hours in the middle of the night. I have seen as what they work on for months at a time come close to complete ruin in drought and extreme wet conditions and I have seen hurricanes completely decimate entire crops in a matter of hours.

Currently I see worry in the faces of these farmers, ones who have strived their entire lives to leave the farm for their children. As property taxes continue to increase on equipment and talk of the Present Use Value program changes heating up, we now have the inheritance tax issue’s that would destroy the family farm as we know it. All of this as continual regulation increases for products that can and can’t be used, places where farming is and isn't allowed due to zoning regulations and pricing of the commodities continually changing- sometimes not even allowing the farmer to recoup his cost of harvest! How can this way of living, one that each and every human being depends on, be in such turmoil?

Something most people do not realize is a reliance of military bases on agricultural land. Especially here in Eastern NC, we are surrounded by bases and used on flight paths for maneuvers, it is essential that farmland remain. In NC our #1 industry is Agriculture and our #2 is the MILITARY. These industries go hand in hand in support of one another. Yet, statistics tell us NC is the #1 state in LOSS of farmland.

This is happening due to several issues from what I have witnessed first hand

1) The median age of a farmer today is 58 years old. Family sizes are not what they used to be requiring farmers to hire additional help. If there is not a family member willing to take over the farm, it is more then likely sold.

2) The expense of starting a farming business is astronomical. If you were lucky enough to be born into a farming family you have a chance, but if not, the chances of you acquiring enough land, affording the extensive and expensive equipment, and having enough cash flow to begin are slim to none- and all this depending on surviving with good crops the first few years weather permitting!

3) Farming isn’t as attractive as the movies have made it out to be. It is a 365 day a year job, especially if you raise livestock. The hours are constant, and again the costs incredible…..not many people want to dedicate themselves to this way of life!

4) The expansion of residential areas and highways are continually encroaching on the family farm. While it seems good for whatever municipality to grow, the truth is the costs of services also increase tremendously to that particular area and it ends up in the form of taxation to all residents. While there was once a piece of land with crops that required no water/sewer/electrical hook ups, now new lines must be run for all utilities and manpower hired for additional housing management in the form of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, fire fighter’s, health and social workers and so on…..the bigger the population, the more services are needed. Not many realize that.

I do not have answers for these issues other then somehow our farms must be protected at all costs.

One last point that I would like to add…..I have heard out of people’s mouth’s that “farm subsidies and property taxation reductions on land are like farming welfare”. I beg to differ! When a farmer loses his entire crop to a disaster, we are all affected financially in the ability to purchase a necessity. They must have GOOD crop insurance to continue to be able to provide for the rest of our population. Please realize, farmers do not set the pricing for their products, the commodity market DOES. Many farmers today have seen their crops bring in less money then it costs to produce them. Again, without some form of subsidy many crops and farms would fall by the wayside costing us all more and eventually depleting the market. Also a farmer is not one who does not work, on the contrary! It is an extremely demanding and dangerous job that requires skill, knowledge and an incredible work ethic. The farmer knows they are responsible for feeding the masses, providing fibers for materials and forestry for everything from home building to diaper stuffing!

While the farm bill sits unattended to in Washington DC, all of this hangs in the balance! I do not agree with all that is in the bill, the Farm Bill and Food Stamps SHOULD NOT BE IN THE SAME BILL, Food stamps should be under HHS, (Health and Human Services), but that will have to be dealt with at a later date when our nation’s farms are not in such peril. If you care about food, I urge you to contact your US Senator and Representative personally.

God made Adam the first care-taker of the Garden of Eden. He was the first “farmer”. We have a responsibility to be good stewards with the land that has been provided. We should be helping our farmers provide to their full potential, we should be encouraging new farmers to get into the field, and we should be offering incentives that will benefit our entire population in the abundance of food, fiber and forestry. How terrible it would be to depend on other countries to grow OUR food. The import of oil surely hasn't worked out so good for us has it?!

Tyker Gonzales
Cove City, NC