Tom Ault
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
Congratulations Bert for your instructive article regarding the farm giveaway program!
I come from a big farm community in Iowa. For many years, all I ever heard was "not enough rain, too much rain, too hot, too cold" and the complaints went from these comments to the biggie, "I didn't bank any money last year," unlike the city guy who also banked but couldn't make his required payments
There are years when making money from the farm are difficult. I owned a small place and can vouch for that, however, I also enjoyed the wonderful garden veggies, the fresh milk, and other farm benefits. That was when the farmer grew something for sustenance plus the money crop.
The new tractor, combine, personal car and or truck, all of which were not considered as money in the bank created a distinct difference to the city dweller who also had nothing in the bank and sometimes, nothing on the table either.
The in-town person frequently has, higher taxes, cost of getting to and from work, higher insurance, absolutely no government subsidies should he or she get laid off or their company closes. Oh, sure, if you can wait a few weeks without a paycheck, you could apply for unemployment, and some folks do, but most of us did notwe found other work while the government still treated the city dweller as though nothing negative had affected their lives.
One family in Northwestern Missouri, that I was familiar with, purchased several acres of river bottom-land that generally flooded every other year or so. They immediately applied for the government program that paid them for not working the landthey made out pretty well.
In the 1950s, many farmers sold out to corporate farming who, in turn, applied for the same subsidies and received payouts for not farming a percentage of the land. The small farmer all but disappeared and the corporations were paid to keep the land at rest.
If things were on a realistic basis, the farmer would get some help, if needed, and the corporations that preyed on them would not. Maybe it is time to start being realistic in this country and forget about paying people who seek out these payoffs.