To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] subchapter S Corporate farms perserve farming traditions
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 10:02:15 -0800
Some people have deeply held beliefs that are akin to religious
convictions. I will not change their convictions. I do believe there
are many other factors that should be considered. The founding of our
nation required 95% of the people to live on a farm and to barter for
items. We have now transformed to nation where 5% live on a farm,
allowing the other 95% to pursue other goals and objectives.
I am ignoring the statements that demonize the food producers because
they are large. We can not have a productive discussion when using a
board paint bush to describe people who have a tradition of farming that
requires a subchapter S corporation to protect their assets and attempt
to preserve the tradition. Even children who grow up on a farm may not
wish to personally be involved in the farming activity as a career. When
senior family members die there can be inheritance problems, especially
if some family members want a cash settlement.
There have been lots of suggestions on this list that producing and
processing your own food is cheaper than what can be purchased in the
store. These statements are not true if the true cost of a person's time
and cost of facilities/tools etc. are considered. There also is another
cost involved - alternative uses of capital that are risk free.
I caution people to be realistic about these factors, especially if
considering a small business opportunity. Over the years I have advised
many people who contemplate such ventures and provide all of the
management and most of the physical effort - "What will you do when you
require time off for personal business, illness, disabilities, or
death?". Will the business be able to continue without your direct
input and oversight.
If you like to grow and process food for personal use, such arguments
may out weight other considerations if your financial circumstances
allow. I have grown such items that I could have purchased cheaper from
commercial sources. Some have been direct from the grower and were just
as fresh and tasty as if I produced them myself. They were not as
convenient to acquire and required additional time and effort to procure
when compare to a home garden.
Growing any plant and cooking can provide personal satisfaction and
pleasure, even a relief from daily stress and tension. These are
personal choices in a life style I highly recommend. However, our
society could not exist if each individual had to produce the necessary
food and fiber required to feed, house, and cloth our families without a
drastic impact on everyday activities many consider as part our basic
existence.
Imagine if we had to depend on real horsepower for transportation. We
would also have a real pollution problem of a different nature. There
also would be limitations in the distance we could travel in a day. The
specialization of the individual farmer to produce fewer items and
attempt to lower their costs through economies of scale are part of the
collective problem of overproduction that causes market prices to fall
as demand is saturated. Individual decisions related to production and
marketing that designed to benefit the individual also can collectively
produce an adverse effect if a large group of other producers make the
same choice.
To counteract the specialized farming operations, nitch production of
organic and exotic crops began to emerge. As these efforts become more
productive (commercialized) the growers discover that their prices fall
and they no longer command a premium. Some can compete in the market
place and others fail. Such is the natural course of farming cycles
unless there are federal controls on production and price supports.
These actions do guarantee that there is a supply of food which is
relative stable, except for minor blips cause by adverse weather
conditions. Consumers also benefit by reducing the widely inflated
prices which occur when supplies are restricted by artificial withdraw
of production caused by growers not planting as they permanently cease
production (go out of business).
As horticultural writers we must provide information that is objective
and balanced to assist the reader. One sided personal views should be
clearly presented as editorials, a luxury most writers only achieve if
they become a senior editor or publisher.