Visit a farm and get lessons in labor, regulations, security, deadlines, weather, and international trade. It’s good news for engineers. A little grim for the rest of us.
Thursday, August 30, I had the opportunity to make a quick run up to Michigan. A few hours after we landed, I was standing in a field of sugar beets, getting insights that stretched from the ground I was standing on, all the way out to the future of our country.
Initially, I was simply interested in the automation used in the harvest. It is pretty amazing.
My attention was redirected to the trucks that carried the harvested sugar beets.
From there, my speed education took on layer after layer of significance.
We talked a lot. I’m going to summarize it down for you, as best I can, focusing on six obvious challenges that farmers have to overcome, just to stay in business. And I won’t refer to education, taxes, money, or credit.
In this case, we’re talking about a large, long standing, well run operation with an excellent reputation.
I see this one farm as a representation of a region, an industry, small business in general, and an indicator of national and international forces.
I’ll try to be quick. There’s no way I can be detailed. Perhaps you can take some of what I learned and carry it to a higher level.
Now, back to the trucks…
Excess Regulation
In the harvest that I saw, a tractor was outfitted with a cool hamster cage kind of a thing that went around and around, plucking the beets out of the ground like there was nothing to it. The beets run up a chute and drop into a truck that is cruising along, right next to the tractor.
Here’s the side story… The first year this team experimented, raising sugar beets, the trucks weren’t big enough. The police pulled them over, complaining that the trucks were overloaded.
No relief. The team had to go back, unload by hand, and run more trips, all while the magical beet picker was craving action.
Today, there’s a string of semis, five axles per trailer, and three axles per cab.
You don’t just go buy trucks and put them into action. They have to be licensed, and they have to be weighed and, I don’t know, licensed again, or something.
Bottom line, crops and livestock operate on God’s timeline. Government has its own timeline.
Consider this: This same team… the one that is now raising grain and harvesting beets… used to run a huge dairy operation. It was profitable. And it was a source of money, jobs, and food for the local community. (Remember, the dairy industry generates dairy products AND meat.)
In one $40,000 bout with regulatory flimflam, the owner pulled the plug and instantly and permanently shut down his large and successful dairy operation.
Do you have any idea what that means to a community?
Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a dairy farm up and running?
And this is not just some little local snit. Businesses are under attack every day, all across our country.
Extortion In Oregon
Right now, Oregon farmers and state officials are in a fight with the U.S. Labor Department. In July, federal authorities put a hold on an entire crop of blueberries.
They invoked a “hot goods” provision of labor law that prohibited processing or shipment of the berries.
Then, the federal agency told the farmers that they could make everything go away if they paid “a fine and back wages and sign a consent judgment admitting wrong and agreeing not to contest the order even if subsequent information exonerated the farms.”
It’s “extortion,” said Greg Ditchen whose farm had to pay $169,816 in back wages and penalties. He had no other choice. It was either that or let his crops go to waste.
And his was just one of three farms cited in Marion County.
You can read the full story as Eric Mortenson reports it for The Oregonian. Here’s the link…
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/08/farm_bureau_and_state_official.html
Crime Encroaches
My ignorance of crime problems must have been particularly obvious. It’s easy to go stupid, standing in the fields, thinking lovely thoughts about God and nature, totally clueless of the danger around you.
I heard stories of daytime burglaries, stolen vehicles, even a marijuana patch hidden in a corn field.
What I didn’t grasp… These aren’t one-off stories.
When I got home, I did a little research. Detroit, you know, has been in total collapse. Saginaw, until just recently, had the highest murder rate in the nation. Flint moved up the list. And Pontiac still gets headlines.
Across south Michigan, major cities are in decay. The tax base is failing. Even as police call for hundreds more officers, there is simply no money to pay them.
And To Prove The Point
Saturday, a Detroit man shot four people, killing two. After driving around for a few hours, he decided to turn himself in. He pulled in to a fire station and explained that he had killed two people.
The fire guys called the police.
“Due to area patrol units being busy handling high priority runs, no units were dispatched to the location.”
The “suspect” eventually drove over to the 10th Precinct in order to finally get himself arrested.
Here’s a link to WDIV’s story…
This crime segment of my farming story may shed some light on why so many folks have a clear understanding of the Right To Bear Arms.
When you and your food, cash, and valuables are surrounded by thousands of empty acres and an overworked police force, self-defense is not an idle topic.
Crime Declines, Prisons Are Packed
Now here’s some food for thought…
Nationwide, there has been a stunning reduction in crime. Seriously.
In fact, no one seems to know exactly why.
There is broad agreement that a massive increase in incarcerations might have had an effect. Some reports say the prison population has tripled.
The FBI may offer the best crime stats. They are clear that many incidents go unreported. They also avoid drawing obvious conclusions, because they want to be nice, I suppose.
If you want to do the math for yourself, here’s a link to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2011.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/preliminary-annual-ucr-jan-dec-2011
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