Losing The Farm - The Story of Cascade Farms owners, Diana and Jeff
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2024
- Losing The Farm shares the story of third-generation Lynden-area seed potato farmers Diana and Jeff of Cascade Farms, as they open up about the heartbreak of having to let go of a legacy started by Jeff’s grandfather.
While the film shares beautiful vistas from this idyllic farming community, it’s a raw look at the mounting challenges that local farming faces to compete in a global marketplace, as pressures much closer to home continue to stack up.
Diana and Jeff detail some of those pressures, including the skyrocketing costs, labor challenges and the state of Washington’s broken promise on water that left them without a path to carry their family farm forward.
Agricultural accountant Todd Burgers, hydrologist Jay Chennault, and farm advocate Fred Likkel all add valuable background about the worsening dynamics across the local farming community that the Bedlington’s story highlight.
Available online at LosingTheFarm.com as well as TH-cam, Facebook and Instagram, Losing The Farm showcases the art of independent local filmmaker Jayson Korthuis, who has been documenting farming stories in the Pacific Northwest for nearly a decade.
#LosingTheFarm #documentary #farming
Forcing them to pay a fine if they water their crops is criminal.
This is grand theft like never before. If you own the land you should have the water rights, period!
Really? Think about it. How many Westerns were based on the big bad landowner blocking the water from leaving his property and cutting off the farmers downstream from water?
Mineral rights too
"Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world." - Henry A. Kissinger
"You will own NOTHING and you will be happy." And they are sure making this happen and quickly. They are coming for your home, land, children, and a whole lot more. My heart goes out to all farmers who work tirelessly to feed an ever overpopulated planet.
Watch your premise. The earth is overpopulated is a sound bite. Do some basic research; you might find that is not correct.
@@cher4705 Sound bites do not change the facts or the truth. Only your ignorance and lack of knowledge, intelligence, and understanding of its catastrophic effects is what keeps you thinking the way you and others do. Overpopulation is a fact. I suggest you become far more responsible and arrive at this truth yourself by doing your own research unaided or influenced by buffoons equal to your current illogical belief...thanks to yet another toxicity being religions. Hope this heats your rear end up.
@@cher4705common sense says it is way overpopulated. There isn't enough environment for everyone
I watched a grown man cry because he had to let go of his generational farm.
He was a century farmer.
People are going to start starving.
What a crime that the county beauracracy would sue its residents. They work for the residents!
They are self serving. They work for their own gain
Since when have they done that. Our government is absolute garbage.
Since when lol?
You get what you vote for!
@@gailandrus7667 you gotta have a real smooth brain to believe anyone "voted" for this
Wish they talked more about who's buying these farms as groups and a possibility of the farmers forming a CoOp in each state to share and keep each other going.
B Gates is buying the farms, and large corporations that do not want to grow food. That’s who’s buying the farms!
love from india! cooperatives should be there
Boy I totally agree to that statement!
The WEF.
_You will own nothing and you will be happy._
The WEF!
just heartbreaking. And what wasn’t said, but is known by many, is there are far larger forces working to shut down farms all over the world. WEF. Fuel and fertilizer costs, and of course water rights, and the inflation that is hitting these farms and their suppliers. No farms, no food, no life.
Exactly! Biden's inflation plan is working.
Seems be the plan, currently they powers that be want only 3.2 Billion people living on the earth , think of the big names rich powerful people can't say here. But cutting off fertilizer supplies under the guise of this or that that frankly is untrue.
So sad to lose another family farm. Thank you for the years you worked producing potatoes. I hope things change so you can return to doing the thing you do best!
Our farmers are the lifeblood of this nation, it's very sad and concerning the small farms are having to sell out. Food prices and quality are getting out of hand.
The disgusting part about the high prices is that the farmers who do the work and take the risks do not benefit from them.
This is happening all over the world.
The WEF are behind it.
Most politicians are members of the organisation and most govts have signed their countries into what is called _Working Partnerships_ with the WEF.
No votes, no mandates.
Like my govt, in the UK, they signed us up without our knowledge or permission!
Hey, Google, why don't you *stop* deleting my comments?!
Tell you what, you should spend your time more constructively, closing down the countless paedo channels you allow to operate across your various platforms, instead of censoring those posting the truth about your WEF masters!!!
Hey, Google, why don't you *stop* deleting my comments?!
Tell you what, you should spend your time more constructively, closing down the countless paedo channels you allow to operate across your various platforms, instead of censoring those posting the truth about your WEF masters.
Hey, Google, why don't you *stop* deleting my comments?!
Tell you what, you should spend your time more constructively, closing down the countless paedo channels you allow to operate across your various platforms, instead of censoring those posting the truth about your WEF masters!
Tough to watch! I had made a purchase at their farm auction, and when I went to pick up my items, well, it felt wrong. Like I was a scavenger helping clean up a carcass. It definitely brought back memories and emotions of when my uncles and grandparents sold the farm in 1983. And now another uncle had just sold his farm at the 1st of this year. Farms that are no longer producing feel like a ghost town to me. I can hear the equipment, the cows, and the voices of families of years gone by.😢
Very sad!
Sad😢
That 1983: the beginning of hurt real corruptions. My Dad was an auctioneer. In Iowa. It turned peoples lives on their heads. No one listened. The people voted out Jimmi Carter. Super painful to see what is going on today.
I grew up on a small cattle ranch/farm in NM. We had 160 acres of water righted land, and about 8000 acres of ranch land. Mom and Dad both worked to keep the place all their lives. When my Dad died, Mom tried to keep the ranch, but in the end had to sell out. Thankfully, a cousin bought the place and it continues to be 'in the family' I have many fond memories of growing up ranching and farming.
I grew up farm adjacent in a small town in Vermont. When I was little, there were about 40 farms (according to my dad). Today, there is only 1 and that is in the process of being sold to another local farmer. The reason? The cureent generation running it is no longer able to and there isn't a next generation to take over. My grandparents farm was sold bit by bit at auction in 1999 and while it's still being farmed, I doubt it will still be in 10 or 20 years as the farmer has no interested children to pass it on to. Farming and ranching is extremely hard work but our politicians are making it next to impossible for small, family farms to survive.
Washington is going downhill so fast, shame on the politicians and the ecology, hope they lose sleep, and their jobs to someone better! This is sickening.
Hahaha. This has nothing to do with Washington smart one, this is a country wide problem in farming. Wake up. Look up some info on bill gates and how much farm land he owns. This all has to do with big money and big farming making it unaffordable for any small farmer to survive.
@@dmoo3815I guess you didn't watch the whole video. Smart one..
@@dmoo3815 Certainly though he has a point. It may be a nationwide or even a worldwide problem but WA politicians are cooperating with whatever is happening. Sowing division through internet comments, sets to further divide us. I think we've all had enough of that. We need kindness and compassion now more than ever.
@@thomasmcgregor4626 and again, nationwide problem and restricting the problem to WA is ignorant. I farm in Washington but I am not ignorant enough to think my state is the only one that matters. Just because this story is talking about a problem in Washington currently does not mean that every other farmer in other states does not deal with the same or similar issues. It’s called politicians sticking their nose into things they don’t understand. California has been leading the way with these sort of policies hurting farmers for decades. Educate yourself. Acting educated about a situation after watching one video is hilarious to me.
@@thedachshund2838 how do you come to that conclusion with me marking the fact that this is a nationwide problem and not restricted to Washington? Explain to me how your comment of me supposedly not watching the video counters my argument? Or are you going to have another dumb reply like … “you, you know what, you’re stupid”. There you go I helped you out from hurting your brain to come up with a reply.
Sad to see generational farms going away😩. So many good people raised on these farms!
They built this country.
Same thing happening in cattle farming, four meat packing companies control e thing n take most of profits putting out of business the small n medium farm producers only big ones left
If law and government fight against own residents and farmers as it can be currently seen broadly in North America and some European countries it is definitely time for fundamental changes. God bless the farmers in USA. Greetings to Diana and Jeff from Northern Europe!
Sorry for your loss. You are right, you are grieving a loss. A HUGE loss. I was feeling the same feelings as you. I sold out over 20 years ago. Prayers to ALL the families involved.
As I sit here, sobbing hot tears.
What gives ? What a sad day.
Man, against the machine.
Thank you for sharing your story. It's disgusting that those who are not farmers make the rules and get the laws passed in Seattle and Bellingham and other clueless urban areas, that those who do know what it takes, have to live by.
In the end, it's about controlling the food source and and as another commentor stated, putting humans on the lowest rung when it comes to priorities.
Fool. We have higher quality food at cheaper prices now than at any time in the past. But continue to be ignorant. It makes you feel good.
The real problem is the globalist adjenda nonsense
these "decisions" are ALL made in NY and Washington, not anywhere NEAR where the farm is.!!
@user-zf3xb3qx8w it's not so much the distance from the farm as much as it is politicians and not farmers or those who are familiar with agriculture, making the rules
I feel for these people... They're the backbone to this country. People forget about the average blue collar workers and their vital role in keeping us all fed.
Whats sad is were wiping out generations of farming.. What happens when this is not being passed down.
Our small farm (420 acres) is a seventh generation farm. My son wanted to farm but he has a off farm full-time teaching job. I am retired and can provide free labor as we farm in shares. We use Agco tractors no John Deere ( too expensive) We no-till everything so large tractors & equipment not needed. That also saves time and fuel. Our combines are 30+ years old. We repair everything ourselves. We are making good profit each year because our expenses are so low. This is the only way small generational farms can make it today. Too many farmers buy expensive newer equipment because they are afraid of a brakedown. ( learn to fix equipment yourself) Our semi tractor grain hauler is a 1983 Army surplus with only 110,000 miles and cost only$7500. You don't need a new pickup truck every 5 years. 2024 may be a make or break year as soybean prices are at least two dollars lower and corn one dollar lower. Those lower prices come out of the profit. Only disciplined farmers that control costs are going to make it to the next generation.
You hit the nail right on the head
Common sense MANAGEMENT keep cost down PROFITS UP 😄
Exactly !
bull's eye! touche! usually people dont think outside the box they go with the system! and the system only milk them of money and over control them with regulations..
"small farm" gtfo of here. You're not a farmer you grow toxic garbage.
Farmers have the deck stacked against them. You buy all your equipment and supplies at inflated market rates and sell your products at whatever price some else wants to pay you. Expenses are always going up and income occasionally goes up but often goes down.
People who didn't grow up on a farm will never know or understand what a farm family does or how they are affected by outside factors.
I was shocked at how much their expenses went up year over year. That is completely unsustainable
We had to give up farming when my father got a terminal disease. I am so thankful that i managed to get 2 beautiful Aerial farm photos from east and West to preserve my memories.
I am so sorry for your loss...and it is devastating. I grew up on my dad's small dairy farm in 1945, and it was my life. When I came home on leave (from the USAF, i would greet my family, then head to the shed, fire up our Farmall M and take it for a ride to check the crops. Our landlord decided to develop the land, so dad sold the machinery in 1973. I literally went home and cried about the loss. He already had a job in town at a lumber yard and it all worked out. You all have skills that can be used elsewhere; be proactive. You will end up on both feet. May your faith in God be strong and always depend on each other for strength. May God bless your family.
But America won't end up on both feet I won't give up our land ever
Amen, you too fam❤!
Thank you for that. I grew up on my grandparents small dairy farm also. Precious memories, a time that I pray never ends in this country.
I pray the LORD keeps His hand on our country until Jesus returns. It's all getting so corrupt and upside down. I pray for our country folk!
What a great documentary about a real issue farmers are facing. My family sold off the family farm 2 years ago in Iowa. The skyrocketing price of operating, increasing regulation, and constant struggles made the decision clear, but it was not easy. The skyrocketing price per acre made expanding out of the question and leasing was also not very profitable on the small scale. I will miss the memories.
The skyrocketing price of land is only made possible with the banks printing money. But in the past decade this printed money has gone mainly to big corporate interests like Blackrock, which can easily outbid the individual.
Thank you for sharing your story! My emotions are hitting pretty hard after watching this. My heart is breaking watching our farmers struggle with surviving, and then the anger and frustration at all the hurdles of regulations & restrictions being set so high. So many people just don't get it.
Don't think YOU get it. These guys have to be very careful to protect groundwater. That's what the next wars will be (and are) fought over.
And I don’t think they were being negligent in the use of groundwater in order to grow food to feed people. How about the use of water to produce crap like Armani suits, fancy furniture, fancy beverages and all the other crap that modern society can’t live without. Get real!
@@turbodog99baloney
This is such an important story. I’m so sorry for what Happened to their farm.
I grew up and worked until I was 30 on our family farm. When it came to my parents retiring and myself taking over. I just couldn't pencil in how to make it work without a high risk of going broke or get my parents help an maybe hurting their retirement. So I got a trucking job, money's better than farming but it isn't the same. Little piece of me died that day.
My dad lost the family farm in the mid 1980’s, and he had a lot of free labor. It was the high 😢interest rates that got him. The banks made a fortune off from him. He didn’t have a lock in rate before the interest rates skyrocketed.
So claiming applications needed to be filed to use the water, allow decades to go by, then sue everyone using the water. There is no life without water. What do we really own if not allowed to use our own resources? Terrifying.
Logging is very similar. “We need to expand the bureaucracy to accommodate the expanding bureaucracy “
You're exactly right, I'm a third generation logger and our industry is dying. The cost of operating now is completely out of hand. If our equipment wasn't already paid for, it would be foolish to continue with the market being what it is. If our country doesn't get it's political mind right pretty soon, we're not going to have a country anymore or the industries that made us great. When it's all gone, it's gone forever.
PhDs who have a job with no real world experience are a national problem.
I’ve cut wood my entire adult live. Love the job but the business side is truly awful. Market fluctuations and operating expenses are depressing. Some days on the way to work you don’t know if you’re going to make minimum wage. I would strongly discourage anyone from going into logging. I feel bad saying that but it is true. Jmtc
@@stevenwescott1422 I feel the same way. All the mills are dying one by one, and they are never coming back, too many government regulations to even think about starting any new mills in this country. We used to produce 20 to 30 loads a day back in the 90's and we're lucky to move 5 or 6 a day now. We had 10-12 employees in the woods and sometimes over 10 contract haulers as well as our own 5 trucks back then... It's a dying industry and it would be foolish for anyone to consider starting up a new logging company.
Lynden started with logging, then the red loam went to farms.
Its frightening the changes ive seen happened to farming throughout my life.
I remember 1988 slaughter hog prices got down to 3 cents /lb at one point
*THREE CENTS* per pound for a 240-260 lb hog
Wow this heart breaking. I work on this farm and I loved it there a good family farm and good people to work with and Jeff you where a cool man to work with
Hi. It is un believeable, how a country has distorted its self.
I have huge Empathy for this. Multiple farms & ranches lost in my family. Potatoes, Cattle, Hay, Grain, specialty crops. All sweat, blood & tears! The American people have sat on their asses and the best of Americana be kicked in to the curb!
i KNOW all my neighbors CANT leave 20, 50, 200 acres sit cause they ARE so deep in debt they HAVE to plant but ALL farmers leaving some land sit for a year would make a difference. OR farmers getting together and starting our own butchering plants or grain yards or fertilizer plants or tire repair shops and start working for each other cause NO one else will help us!
Sadly this is a common problem in not only agriculture, but many other businesses.
The cost of just doing business has risen to the breaking point. Fuel, labor, and governmental policies, are cutting profits to bare minimums. I hear it all the time people saying oh they are just greedy, they should be paying this, or that. These people have no idea what it takes to run a business, and pay employees. Many look at the bottom line, and forget there is a middle. If you sold 3 million$ in potatoes, or any other product, that is what you have in the bank, and are greedy, they have no idea, it probably cost 2.95 million to sell that product.
I see so many of the younger generation getting the family business, and once the parents are out of it, they get shell shocked, and just give up and sell.
Our Prayers are with with You
My family lost a farm. Not saying I know what your family is going through. I do feel your pain. 😢God Bless
Thank you for sharing your story so that not only the other small farmers don’t feel isolated but that the government agencies can see how reckless they have become by only listening to the environmentalists that have no concerns of others but their own agenda. I hope that this inconsiderate bunch of low life individuals find out that their salaries and pensions come from tax payers like small farmers. Hopefully they will get a taste of high food costs and loss of their jobs because of lack of funds. Also, you greedy incompetent lawyers that would create lawsuits against family farms that need water, you will someday face judgement day because you won’t live forever. Same for politicians that forget that they are elected to help this nation survive. I support family farms.
i'm so sorry for what our country is doing to people. And we have no control. i just see it getting worse. Thank you for doing this video and telling your story
Heartbreaking. Come to Ohio. I live in Putnum County and we grow Potatoes, Tomatoes, corn, soybeans, wheat, pumpkins blueberries and tree fruits in my county. Ag is the#1 industry here and Putnum County is the third most agricultural. Ohio isn’t legislating farms out of business.
Washington County NY is or seems to be welcoming farmers. We have seen several Amish families move in and buying the abandoned farms and start farming again. It's nice to see
Sad to see this happen. I worked on a potato harvester back in the eighties in Maine. The seniors in high school would start school two weeks earlier then the rest, after the two weeks we worked the harvest 12 hours a day for 14 days straight. You could always smell the rotten potato as soon as it was unearthed. It's sad to see that small farmers are losing to the investors who can pay for all the pitfalls of government policies. Thank you for sharing your story.
Most people do not understand what it means for our food supply. Hunger will set in before you know it.
No, you will eat bill Gates potatoes instead . ..
I feel so sorry for you guys and others in the same situation.
What really matters is being stripped away from farmers and the subsequent workers in these industries and communities.
It’s a shameful situation and should not be happening especially to the very people who grow our food and drive an economy.
God! This was so heartbreaking to watch, what's even worse is seeing the smaller America's agricultural farmers constantly being ran out of business by governmental regulations. I wish I could've helped this couple out. I'll continue to pray for them and a miracle.🙏🙏🙏😢
The decline of family farming in general, also overhere in the netherlands were farming was born almost, our family farm dated back to 1756 which we have papers from, its so sad to see worldwide what is happening due to stupid regulations and incompetent government
My heart goes out to you and all farmers
So sorry for your loss! Happy your workers all found great jobs, Blake has a beautiful new business growing Dahlias! Now is the time to enjoy your condo in Arizona! So thankful Dick Bedlington Potatoes and many other crop farmers are up and running!
Inflation is hitting all of us! I think I just paid 2 bucks for a spud at Safeway! Yikes!!!
And yet people vote for more government regulation by voting for people who have no idea. Biden is a communist bush was a communist so was Obama and Clinton. More government less freedom, we need a bussiness man as president not a politician
Hold your head high! You will prevail🙏🙏
So sorry for your loss. Over here in the UK we have this same issue and even less land. My you know support and guidance going forward. Your employees will understand as they look back. Better to get out before you lose everything to debt.
I cannot believe there is not way our except to sell. I Googled Cascade Farms Inc and it says "Permanently closed" on the map - so sad. Beautiful land, beautiful people.
So sorry for you all..Many prayers for ya. God bless you all...Sherri-Payette Idaho
It's very sad what's happening to the farmers. This is why it's so important to have a home garden. The price of good quality food will continue to rise in the grocery stores.
So sorry for your lost my prayers are with you an your family this is so heart breaking
God bless you all
Where I grew up, a lot of Amish and Mennonite families are coming in and buying up vacant farms. Without them, these farms and their land would continue to sit there, wasting away. My family farm was sold in 1999 to another family who continues to run it today. Another family farm is being sold to a local farm family farm the next town over. The current owners aren't capable or interested in running it, and there no longer is a next generation to take over as we lost him to cancer last summer. This is the last farm in my hometown. All of the others have closed due to an aging population combined with increasing costs and decreasing profits, especially in the dairy industry. It's sad that this is happening.
I believe the answer is not going big, but actually becoming a small farmer that a family can handle themselves. smaller and simpler machinery, minimal dependence on fertiliser, Keeping livestock, and using the refuse to fertilise etc. Use rest of the land to grow lumber or even lease out.
Yeah, as a very small European farmer I just don't get it... Why go in debt in the first place. I get you don't have subsidies, but just basic farming here is very very cheap (if you have the land ofcourse). Old machines take next to nothing to run, you can do this as a side hustle if you want. Why sale the land? Are taxes on land in US so high or what?
This is what I’m starting to do. Lots of work restarting my grandparent’s farm, all the old machinery he took great care of was sold off long ago. I’m doing everything myself by hand because I’m crazy 😅
Such an important story to tell. Thank you for sharing this. I am so sorry for your loss. There really are no adequate words.
Watching from Australia, how very sad, it's happening in so many places. Your premium food product will be missed by future generations. Sending you our thoughts.
I don't know any farmers nor have I ever even met one but I guarantee you that everytime I'm in a grocery store to buy food, I say a word of thanks to all the farmers who grow it and all the truckers who transport it and everyone in the energy industry to bring the fuels the farmers and truckers use to do what they do!!!
This is the sad reality of farming around the world now, scale is important to gain efficiency's and survive but to get scale you need large amounts of capital and good management. With regard to water rights, here in New Zealand we had a similar issue with over allocated water for irrigation which led to farms building their own storage ponds which of course costs a lot of money.
We need to protect our farms. Put in them in trusts. We have a wonderful farmland trust in my area.
My heart absolutely breaks, I was born on a small farm, that went bankrupt, my dad got a job in a sawmill, across the state, I got a job their after high school, 34 years later, it shut down, mainly because of bidan, and his radical environmentalists, it hurts when industries go, because then the country erodes, I'm patriotic, about the country, timber is nothing, come compared to farming, food is actually needed , it's vital, I was born in 1968, from a kid on, I've constantly heard about , coal closing, steal closing, small farms closing, timber closing, fishing closing, Detroit took a dump, now they have the gaul to kill oil and more farms, the only thing holding , the country up, it hurts and pisses me off
The very things they are doing to hurt people are the very things that will convict them on Judgement Day. btw, I'm about the same age as you, so I've also seen the ups and downs of our generation.
Keep this in mind: all of the manufacturing outsourcing, due to greedy businessmen, finally backfired during the pandemic and the supply chain problems that it caused.....now a lot of those businessmen are paying the price. It was cost effective, long term, to keep that manufacturing in this country.
Maybe the next administration will be 'for the people.'
Maybe you should have done more in school. Your writing looks like elementary level: run on sentences, spelling errors, lack of paragraphs, etc.
@@turbodog99 but: at least he's not a turd
So sad, bless this couple/family…you can tell how genuine they are about their employees ❤❤❤❤
Really hard to watch this. Our country has lost its way. Our country is shutting down. My prayers are with you..
We lost our farm 35 years ago.when courts policies exist they do not care about my farm livelihood .farm credit loves farmers
We're just 35 mins Northwest of you, so this hits pretty close to home. Same up here across the line. So many farmers selling out. We lost about 12 farms immediately after the flood. Last week another one went up for sale. So, so sorry for your loss. Devastating video
Thanks for sharing , I raised seed for 20 years in South Central Wa. I understand your pain .
sorry to hear for your loss.
So sorry you (and many others) are going through this. It's outrageous. I hope you can get off the "mental rollercoaster" soon. and in tact. Sunny days are ahead. Best wishes.
The grief is real.
I feel your pain..my parents lost their farm some 20 years ago.having to go bankrupt and leaving with not even the shirts on their back! So hard going threw that..all the best
Ecology treats humans as the lowest priority. Many environmental restrictions and regulations can be boiled down to an anti-human worldview. Some openly wish that most of us were dead.
Exactly right.
Very good post! I'm Christian and I know that God gives us resources on this earth, to use in order that we sustain. Some of these people seem to think they have the right to 'preserve' all these things God gave us, never to be used. It's absolutely ridiculous.
You people out there, you know who you are, just remember He said 'the meek shall inherit the earth'.
Hi, Same Situation all around the world. In Germany WE are struggling with waterrights too. After 3 years with draught WE currenrly face an absolutely wet winter getting Lots of rain since September 23. Starting Work in the fields ist Farm away because there ist too much water.
Family sold the farm when I was 6, one of the largest in the county, but it gave me a great work ethic and mindset to get back to that. I appreciate a lot more working for it and I'm sure their son will feel the same way if its in his blood
So sad and sorry to hear 😢
Sorry for your loss. Who knew that our farmers would have been through this because they grow our food. Things have to change Dear Lord ❤
Oh my! Thank you for sharing your heart wrenching story. I’m sure your parents and grandparents would be so proud of you for working the farm for as long as you did. My prayer is that you one day down the road will have peace about has happened. You did not fail, you persevered for many years. Our government failed you! This is a POLITICAL issue, not a business issue. I hope there is no bad blood between you and your son that decided he can no longer farm. Watching this and listening to the hardships and STRESS you faced each year is just a tip of the iceberg of what you experienced but farming must be a passion due to the lifestyle. It is a wholesome lifestyle till the government gets involved. I wonder if you will continue to live there seeing what will happen “across the street” from your home. I lost a TINY horse farm many years ago due to unforeseen issues. That was about 20 years ago and I have not been on a horse since. It was a devastating emotional loss but 20 yrs later I can see God’s hand in it which has helped lighten the loss. I feel for you all and pray for peace and prosperity for you all. God bless!
My husband was a 3 rd generation farmer in Southeast Missouri, and he passed away at 51 thanks to Covid. Now my 22 yo daughter is trying to be that 4th generation and I wish she honestly wouldn’t.
~Thank you for sharing...& sounds like you darmers gave it your best....but with all the increases that are taking place...it cannot be easy. 🙏🙏🙏
This happened to our family also . I fill for you, i know how it feels.
Where about is your farm What a heart breaker I grew up on a farm in Ontario Canada Thanks for sharing your story
I live in ontario Canada I'm 45 years old I got to work on farms when I was young. My kids will more than likely never work on a farm or work with animals and that's more the norm. This has caused a huge disconnect from us and farmer's and not knowing how important you people are wee just expect the food at store, well big business runs everything and we are selling our countries out
Good Luck to ye. All ☘️☘️🍀🍀
Most farmers are up against greed in all they do. The equipment, fertilizer, fuel, etc., suppliers are killing their golden goose. When growers start to coop with each other, they will have the last laugh as they start to control prices.
Exactly!
It's not greed that makes expenses go up, it's the cost to produce fertilizer, fuel, equipment, etc that goes up. $15 minimum wage hits everyone. $4 fuel does too.
I WAS BORN IN 1970 SAW THE 1980'S FARM CRISIS. DAD STRUGGLED BUT HELD ON. OPERATING LOANS GOT UP TO 22 PERCENT INTEREST. DAD HAD BOUGHT 80 ACRES IN THE LATE 1970'S FOR ABOUT $1100 PER ACRE IN ABOUT 1984-1985 LAND PRICES TANKED TO UNDER $500.00 PER ACRE. DAD HAD TO MAKE AT LEAST TWO 18 PERCENT INTEREST PAYMENTS. PEOPLE SAY THE 1980'S OR 1930'S WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. I SAY DON'T EVER FOOL YOURSELF. WE ARE IN SO MUCH POLITICAL TERMOIL RIGHT NOW AND INTEREST IS RISING BECAUSE OF STUPID GOVERNMENT SPENDING. SAW GOOD FARMERS THAT HAD THE LOCAL BANKS DROP THEIR LOANS IN THE 1980'S AND WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND ANOTHER BANK AND HAD TO SELL OUT. WHY CAN FORIEGN BUYERS COME IN ? EVIROMENTALIST HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF CONTROL!
The US is in a very sad state!! Soon we won’t be able to get fresh food…most of it is tainted or modified genetically already. this is such a very sad situation and my heart goes out to you and your family and your farming community.
Heartbreaking. Small businesses are in the same boat. Big box & corporations make wholesale costs for small/local businesses non competitive prices to stay in business. I could buy from Walmart & big box at retail for less than I could buy from my wholesale grocer supply. No small grocery in my hometown now.
Hey a big shout out to all the big corporate Ag that is doing this to the little farmers…..nice work! Good job for looking out for the real people of this land…..
Gates, bezos, trump, sorros, zuckerburg, etc are buying all the land.
😢🙏. I am so sorry for your loss, and I pray that the Lord it's going to open new doors to an even more beautiful future for your family, and your farm families🙏🙏🙏
The milk companies changed the way we were paid for our milk. It would have required us to double the herd to make the same money, and we didn’t have the tillable land to support them. The farm has been in our family since 1758. It required a total rethink of what and how we farm.
It’s sick what’s happening to the country my ancestors founded. We need to fight back.
those little heritage potatoes are awesome......this is a warning of dark days ahead....we are screwed
What has happened in Europe is just 1 year away from us in America... Sad that is starting first in my own state.
This is a very sad documentary. Some or all of this land has been in your family for decades, perhaps a hundred years or more, but you're being told what to do with the water adjacent to or under your acreage. Keep it up, environmentalists, ecologists, and politicians. Soon, we'll have no farmers and no food. 😢
I am very sorry to see this situation. I am not familiar with irrigation, farm in Ireland. Would it be possible to sell all the machinery and rent most of the land or if necessary sell what it takes to get clear of debt. Start farming 50 or 100 acres for hay or haylage. There may be no fences, but fencing 50 acres your selves and keep sheep hay and sheep can be worked part time. Employ no on, work off farm, year by year take back land. Is there a farmers market near by to sell direct and keep costs to a minimium. It may be considered small, but 500 fertile acres is a big farm. Hang on. The best of luck
So Sad the end of a lifelong dream, everybody is feeling the effects of continued rising cost.
6;00 Fred Likkel nails it.
Heartbreaking:(less farms less food!
Very sad what is happening in this country. Big business and government colluding everywhere to dismantle small family and community enterprise/ingenuity/intimacy and caring. It’s a disruption that ultimately limits the freedom of our citizenship in service of greed and corruption, and favoring only the wealthiest among us. The ship is going down with overwhelming swiftness. How much despair must we experience before we are moved into action? What attorney actually charges $40,000 ( because he knows he can) a year as a retainer? Does anyone out there remember a time when money didn’t matter so much? Are we so far gone in this country that the better side of ourselves takes a back seat to the momentum of the disgusting status quo? Is our only option to surrender to the empire out of our collective sense of powerlessness? Seems like we are just too lazy to care. Some of us have lost sight of what is truly valuable. Many of us still care but have not yet learned to speak up. Will be interesting to see how the story ends.
The U.S. farm policy has been backwards for a long time....the large farms get the most subsidy money which just promotes the over production of corn and soybeans. We need smaller farms that grow real food instead of grains. This would help revitalize our rural towns throughout the country....problem is the large grain farmers have gobbled up all the acreage.
Federal subsidies need to stop. When people relize the fact that the cost of groceries is artificially held down because of subsidies there will be a revolution.
Potatoes would be tough for me. The saving grace for us has been organic premiums, but you do need fertility, and I wouldn’t know how to get that with the tillage required for potatoes. We’re way beyond corn and soybeans, we even produce potatoes, but my ground will see a potato crop once every 20 years.
The key is diversification and having animals on the land, but you will just lose more money if you’re still in the commodity system. The know your farmer atmosphere is the only way for a small farm to survive, and working together with other producers, so that together, your customers get a wide array of products to choose from.
Ask Washington if they are proud of themselves