In the New York Times over the weekend there was this story, “Farm Living (Subsidized by Job Elsewhere).”
If you know a farmer, you likely know someone with a dual income. There’s the job that pays benefits for the family and has a steady income, then there’s the lifestyle that accompanies farming.
Very few farmers can really make a living off the land. It’s a sad reality. The NYT notes this stat: “The percentage of farmers who had off-the-farm jobs increased to 65 percent in 2007, from 55 percent five years earlier.”
The article focuses on Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and what, if anything, he can do about the issue.
Whether he can or not, I don’t see much relief coming for farmers running small, family-centric operations. Increase ethanol production doesn’t seem like the answer to me.
Still, I did learn about Midwest Farmgirl Jennifer Miller, who after three years of working to raise meat goats on a 15-acre farm in Sidney, Ill., is on the verge of turning a profit selling meat directly to consumers.
Virtual Farmgirl 