This is a documentary produced by John Connor, which focuses on the farming crisis of the late 1970s. It was broadcast on Alabama Public Television in 1983.
I LOVE this documentary, in the weekends I listen to this while I’m relaxing on my hammock this documentary about Alabama agriculture gives us good ideas about farmers. This important documentary back in the 20th century makes me want to become a farmer. All the farmers in this documentary are fantastic. Thank you so much to all of you for posting this video. 🎉❤😊l
Farming was better in general back then no tractors doing the work with gps no electronics to fail unfortunately the 80s farm buyouts and the loans is wat killed a lot of family farms.
We do need to be self reliant because things are not gonna get any better. I would like to learn how to grow my own vegetables and what else I might need
The middle “men” make all the money. Farmer’s buy everything at retail prices and sell everything at wholesale prices, so they cannot make a profit. Joel Salatin has it right.
Thanks for the upload. This reminds me of my grandparents who got married in 1934. My grandfather grew rice in California during WW2, I guess he got a hard time because so many people went off to war and died or were injured and he stayed home and got rich farming. I'm just glad I was around to meet them learn their stories. 😢
Better days better times but to an extent they didn’t know fully how bad it was gonna get in the future but they knew even then that the days of the small farmers were numbered. Nothin lasts forever, least nothin good it seems.
@@ramraghuwanshi2562 they’ve been dying out every year and some committed suicide when the FHA pulled their stunts in the mid 1980’s. Farming as a way of life is a rarity almost extinct. Nobody can just farm small time and make a living without having a regular job least not anymore.
@@ramraghuwanshi2562 big business is what’s ruined everything and the fda and the government itself don’t want anyone who’s just trying to make money any way they can in a legal manner in a small time deal.
You go to school and they tell you a given career pays X. They don't tell you about operating loans, crop failure, fluctuating prices, government meddling or only getting paid once a year.
From my understanding the farm crisis.. it was the middleman was either cheating or undercutting the farmers, with high cost of planting, cultivating and harvesting.. as my dad put it, It cost $4 per bushel to plant, and another $4 per bushel to cultivate it, and $4 to harvest it.. that adds up to $12 in operating costs. then to get a return on that we made only $4 per bushel which gave us a -$8 per bushel in profits .. meaning we didn't make any money and we lost money.. so as dad put it we spent $8 to make nothing also that was during the S&L Savings and Loans and FHA scandal that tried cheat farmers out of their farms
The government was trying to kill out the small farmer and make these corporate factory farms, With this covid made up crisis they're doing the same thing ,get rid of the small businesses have corporate business take over
Definitely Agree it’s sad they don’t make these type of Documentaries anymore back in the 20th Century it was popular, but still this video was absolutely the best it talks about life, nature, and a lot of Farming. One of the Best Documentaries that talks about the most life.
Farming with older equipment is very common around here (NE Oklahoma). Most of the large tractors I see are 70's, 80's, and 90's models. You will see an occasional new tractor as well, but they aren't as common. They are so expensive and use DEF and DPF filters. A lot of the new tractors cannot be repaired by the farmer, but must be taken to the dealer. Going to no till has helped extend the life of the old tractors since they aren't working the ground as much.
@@Lauterbach24 much like our college and healthcare systems alot of the reasoning things are so absurdly and unrealistically expensive for farming is due to government subsidization......these companies know that with the recent years the government has been pumping money into farming to help it grow, so in response they jack up their prices in reference to the flood of cash, but the cash is only going to certain places. Making it hard for other farmers to afford the necessary tools to farm....and don't get me started on mega corps now moving in to buy up and own the land these farms that collapse due to debt and inability to maintain/keep up with growing farm output demand due to the inability to afford such ludicrously expensive equipment. honestly I think this is all planned.....these mega corps and "Big" brained Ideologues like bill gates who is one of the biggest farm land owners in america planned this all out......its going to get ALOT worse my friends....start banding together.....start networking......
I remember these times well folks new it was getting bad but they had no idea how bad the 80s were going to be, then Regan finished family farms off with Reganomics, that really put a hurt on people
No, I remember the early 80s and it was Carters grain embargo that started all that. It wasn't until the later 80s like 1989 until we had a decent grain market....
So.......explain..... my father had 160 acres......milked 20 cows. Raised 5 kids....no outside income.....during that same period..... through the 80s. He never had any issue with loans....debt ??? Even myself. I bought my farm in the 80s. The worst was 1988.. a drought....and 1989.... winter kill in my alfalfa... bought everything off of a semi both years. Still made it with out much trouble !
@user-tc3ou6sy5f interest rates on loans that weren't locked in went as high as 20 percent interest, if you doubt the farm crisis of the 80s were real do a little research when farmers in the mid west were committing suicide after losing farms that had been in the same families for many many years
@@lukedesselle2491 I have never doubted the 80s Farm Crisis. But understand most of it was self inflicted The farmers themselves caused it ! As I stated earlier.. "my father had 160 acres......milked 20 cows. Raised 5 kids....no outside income.....during that same period..... through the 80s. He never had any issue with loans....debt ! My mom and dad raised us 5 kids on that 160 acres. He never had problems. I also lived it. I seen our next door neighbor whom bought the farm next door for 4,000 dollar per acre. The next year the bank sold him out ! Before joining the Peace Corps in 1978....and going to Liberia for two years ... I had money in the Morris Plan in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Made 16.2 % interest. From age 15 on.... I saved every penny.....never went anywhere ! I seen how poor people lived in Liberia. They never made 10 dollars a month ! Gas there was the same as here in the USA 4 dollars a gallon. After coming home in 1980 I realized how good we Americans have it ! People here in the USA... were fat.....and everywhere I went people were eating ! One person to a truck / car. ??? This same thing will likely repeat itself soon. Farmers over their heads in debt ! People need to learn to live within their means !
True to a point, but if everybody farmed like the Amish there wouldn't be enough food for the country. There'd be famine regularly. Look at North Korea, all there farms are like Amish and they barley have enough food for there army.
The Amish thrive because they subvert regulations and taxes, they cheat their own system to own things they shouldn't... then laugh about it... besides most have side biz or jobs just like everyone in farming theses days ... I rent ground to one Amish family and a building to another and have several neighbors that are old order...
Reminds me of the hard times in the 1980s. I hope I never see the low prices and high interest we had then. As for the Amish , they should be banished from the United States.
Yeah. It was a better time for sure. Dad bought his 1st new Ford pickup for 2600 dollars. Back then most everyone traded every 2 or 3 yrs. Pickups now cost 80 to 90k. Impossible
Sustainability is not nonsense. We live on the planet and there is not other planet on which we can live. We all have an obligation morally to minimize destruction to this planet.
@@JamesTyreeII everything it takes to make a bushel has doubled in price in the last 6 months except the income from it it hasn’t moved much us farmers are in big trouble
@@JimmyT995 I was involved in a farming operation near me, that my friend runs, and I had no idea that the prices of ammonium and pesticides doubled this year! I know that they went up significantly, and that the income will drop as commodities come back down in price, but the cost of inputs will remain high for a while creating a real bind for Farmers, but I had no idea it was that much of a rise in costs
@@JimmyT995 I think it’s ridiculous for a farmer to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a combine when they can get a perfectly good one for $150,000 or less. I know that it’s hard to find reasonably priced equipment on the market currently, but $500,000 or more for a combined makes no sense when it’s doing the same job
I waited rented land for 18 yrs full time job beef cows on side everybody around had there way nephew helping city job lived below means. Some wives had jobs benefits you believed Kissinger , Dewight I believed in the Lord and myself. Don’t forget general Patton he too was in the middle of change horses and then tanks. Tighten up
When and where was this documentary made ? I live in Pakistan---from wheat, corn, cotton & rice to sugarcane, mango & orange--a country highly rich in agriculture
These grain farmers up here in Kentucky that I've met, are loaded. Yes, they certainly have debt in various forms, but they've made big money. One guy has a 2 million dollar lake house..what's that tell you??
Times musta got better. The new bank is 3 times bigger today.Bet those Chandler people are filthy rich.The old blacks in this video are long dead and I bet most of their land sold off.Farmers there now probably have 200k tractors and live in fine brick homes and drive 50k pickups. I have never in my life known a farmer who was poor or not making it except to hear them tell it.
Big farmer whose land is paid for can make a living. Small farmer can’t compete even if his land is paid for. Today’s answer for the small farmer is organic truck crops sold to the rich in big cities at farmers markets.
Sorry but you guys are out of touch. Big farms go out of business all the time. Also I own only 4 acres and lease 1800. I just bought my first farm of 150 acres. It’s called working harder and making better decisions then your neighbor. I know a lot of small farmers who are doing ok and a lot of big farmers who are putting on a “show” and do g pay any of their debts.
biggest whiners of all theamerican farmer subsidized by govt and still cant makeit right ive seen there equiptment trucks and the houses they build, and bankrupt and start over 2021
I LOVE this documentary, in the weekends I listen to this while I’m relaxing on my hammock this documentary about Alabama agriculture gives us good ideas about farmers. This important documentary back in the 20th century makes me want to become a farmer. All the farmers in this documentary are fantastic. Thank you so much to all of you for posting this video. 🎉❤😊l
I am so glad you appreciate the documentary. I will pass your comments on to the producer, John Connor. It will make him very happy.
I absolutely agree, John Conner will definitely be proud to see this notes I wrote, that will be wonderful.
everything was better, even the equipment and vehicles. when every one had a square body or a ford as their farm truck.
Farming was better in general back then no tractors doing the work with gps no electronics to fail unfortunately the 80s farm buyouts and the loans is wat killed a lot of family farms.
Now it’s $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. They build junk now.
I miss these folks i grew up with God Bless this country.
Wht did the small farmer did? Did they commit suicide or lived in poverty?
@ramraghuwanshi2562 they made enough to survive. The say of the small farmer are long gone.
We need local farmers
We need to become self reliant
We do need to be self reliant because things are not gonna get any better. I would like to learn how to grow my own vegetables and what else I might need
The middle “men” make all the money. Farmer’s buy everything at retail prices and sell everything at wholesale prices, so they cannot make a profit. Joel Salatin has it right.
Parasites
So true
This is amazing i do my school work with this in the background it helps me focus
Thanks for the upload. This reminds me of my grandparents who got married in 1934. My grandfather grew rice in California during WW2, I guess he got a hard time because so many people went off to war and died or were injured and he stayed home and got rich farming. I'm just glad I was around to meet them learn their stories. 😢
Better days better times but to an extent they didn’t know fully how bad it was gonna get in the future but they knew even then that the days of the small farmers were numbered. Nothin lasts forever, least nothin good it seems.
Wht did the small farmer did? Did they commit suicide or lived in poverty?
@@ramraghuwanshi2562 they’ve been dying out every year and some committed suicide when the FHA pulled their stunts in the mid 1980’s. Farming as a way of life is a rarity almost extinct. Nobody can just farm small time and make a living without having a regular job least not anymore.
@@aarontate1667 TRUE but we too to be blamed. Our needs has also increased.. We want more money not content with less
@@ramraghuwanshi2562 big business is what’s ruined everything and the fda and the government itself don’t want anyone who’s just trying to make money any way they can in a legal manner in a small time deal.
Don't forget how the government preferred to outsource to farmers in other countries. This also killed domestic farming.
You go to school and they tell you a given career pays X. They don't tell you about operating loans, crop failure, fluctuating prices, government meddling or only getting paid once a year.
From my understanding the farm crisis.. it was the middleman was either cheating or undercutting the farmers, with high cost of planting, cultivating and harvesting.. as my dad put it, It cost $4 per bushel to plant, and another $4 per bushel to cultivate it, and $4 to harvest it.. that adds up to $12 in operating costs. then to get a return on that we made only $4 per bushel which gave us a -$8 per bushel in profits .. meaning we didn't make any money and we lost money.. so as dad put it we spent $8 to make nothing also that was during the S&L Savings and Loans and FHA scandal that tried cheat farmers out of their farms
The government was trying to kill out the small farmer and make these corporate factory farms,
With this covid made up crisis they're doing the same thing ,get rid of the small businesses have corporate business take over
@@scottydog62 Yup and many small family farms closed. my parents sold their farm in 1989
They dont make good ole boys like this anymore
Good ole boys are numerous.... especially in the Southeastern United States and Appalachian areas.
Nope but there’s still a few of us still kicking against the pricks.
Definitely Agree it’s sad they don’t make these type of Documentaries anymore back in the 20th Century it was popular, but still this video was absolutely the best it talks about life, nature, and a lot of Farming. One of the Best Documentaries that talks about the most life.
Chandler Milling Co. and other Chandler related operations are still going today. I dont know if there's been ownership changes along the way though.
Rip Mr Buster wish we could’ve learned more from such an AG business tycoon very impressive operation.
Time to farm the old way again no more of the fancy machinery !
I think it is a good idea for Farmer’s to buy and use as dependable and small farm equipment as works to minimize debt and outlay.
Farming with older equipment is very common around here (NE Oklahoma). Most of the large tractors I see are 70's, 80's, and 90's models. You will see an occasional new tractor as well, but they aren't as common. They are so expensive and use DEF and DPF filters. A lot of the new tractors cannot be repaired by the farmer, but must be taken to the dealer. Going to no till has helped extend the life of the old tractors since they aren't working the ground as much.
@@Lauterbach24 glad to hear it. I like the Case IH 7200 Magnum tractors
@@JamesTyreeII We are running International Harvesters here. Those Case Magnums are good tractors.
@@Lauterbach24 much like our college and healthcare systems alot of the reasoning things are so absurdly and unrealistically expensive for farming is due to government subsidization......these companies know that with the recent years the government has been pumping money into farming to help it grow, so in response they jack up their prices in reference to the flood of cash, but the cash is only going to certain places. Making it hard for other farmers to afford the necessary tools to farm....and don't get me started on mega corps now moving in to buy up and own the land these farms that collapse due to debt and inability to maintain/keep up with growing farm output demand due to the inability to afford such ludicrously expensive equipment. honestly I think this is all planned.....these mega corps and "Big" brained Ideologues like bill gates who is one of the biggest farm land owners in america planned this all out......its going to get ALOT worse my friends....start banding together.....start networking......
I remember these times well folks new it was getting bad but they had no idea how bad the 80s were going to be, then Regan finished family farms off with Reganomics, that really put a hurt on people
@George oh believe me the farm crisis of the 80s was real!!
No, I remember the early 80s and it was Carters grain embargo that started all that. It wasn't until the later 80s like 1989 until we had a decent grain market....
So.......explain..... my father had 160 acres......milked 20 cows. Raised 5 kids....no outside income.....during that same period..... through the 80s. He never had any issue with loans....debt ??? Even myself. I bought my farm in the 80s. The worst was 1988.. a drought....and 1989.... winter kill in my alfalfa... bought everything off of a semi both years. Still made it with out much trouble !
@user-tc3ou6sy5f interest rates on loans that weren't locked in went as high as 20 percent interest, if you doubt the farm crisis of the 80s were real do a little research when farmers in the mid west were committing suicide after losing farms that had been in the same families for many many years
@@lukedesselle2491 I have never doubted the 80s Farm Crisis. But understand most of it was self inflicted The farmers themselves caused it ! As I stated earlier.. "my father had 160 acres......milked 20 cows. Raised 5 kids....no outside income.....during that same period..... through the 80s. He never had any issue with loans....debt !
My mom and dad raised us 5 kids on that 160 acres. He never had problems. I also lived it. I seen our next door neighbor whom bought the farm next door for 4,000 dollar per acre. The next year the bank sold him out ! Before joining the Peace Corps in 1978....and going to Liberia for two years ... I had money in the Morris Plan in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Made 16.2 % interest. From age 15 on.... I saved every penny.....never went anywhere ! I seen how poor people lived in Liberia. They never made 10 dollars a month ! Gas there was the same as here in the USA 4 dollars a gallon. After coming home in 1980 I realized how good we Americans have it ! People here in the USA... were fat.....and everywhere I went people were eating ! One person to a truck / car. ??? This same thing will likely repeat itself soon. Farmers over their heads in debt ! People need to learn to live within their means !
Technology is a choice...the Amish in my area use all horses...they are thriving.
True to a point, but if everybody farmed like the Amish there wouldn't be enough food for the country. There'd be famine regularly. Look at North Korea, all there farms are like Amish and they barley have enough food for there army.
The Amish thrive because they subvert regulations and taxes, they cheat their own system to own things they shouldn't... then laugh about it... besides most have side biz or jobs just like everyone in farming theses days ... I rent ground to one Amish family and a building to another and have several neighbors that are old order...
Reminds me of the hard times in the 1980s. I hope I never see the low prices and high interest we had then. As for the Amish , they should be banished from the United States.
❤️✌️, great video, without em we'd starve ✌️
John Fahey "Steamboat Gwine 'Round the Bend" @ 1:30 ?
Yeah. It was a better time for sure. Dad bought his 1st new Ford pickup for 2600 dollars. Back then most everyone traded every 2 or 3 yrs. Pickups now cost 80 to 90k. Impossible
Farm tractors cost a half million dollars and combines close to 800k. You can't possibly own one only lease it much less work on it yourself.
Somtimes progress isn't progress.
Cars trucks tractors cost what people are willing to pay !
@@westrotter7847 Cars trucks tractors cost what people are willing to pay !
This is priceless
I like hearing the stories from the Black Farmers as well.
Absolutely. They are a part of the story. The producer, John Conner, made sure they were included.
@@rhsharp Black Farmers are so terribly represented in our country.
@George Fuck off you racist. I have little tolerance for Bigotry.
With the threat of all this sustainability nonsense on the horizon we are gonna be lucky if there is any American farmers at all in 10 years
Sustainability is not nonsense. We live on the planet and there is not other planet on which we can live. We all have an obligation morally to minimize destruction to this planet.
@@JamesTyreeII everything it takes to make a bushel has doubled in price in the last 6 months except the income from it it hasn’t moved much us farmers are in big trouble
@@JimmyT995 I was involved in a farming operation near me, that my friend runs, and I had no idea that the prices of ammonium and pesticides doubled this year! I know that they went up significantly, and that the income will drop as commodities come back down in price, but the cost of inputs will remain high for a while creating a real bind for Farmers, but I had no idea it was that much of a rise in costs
@@JimmyT995 I think it’s ridiculous for a farmer to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a combine when they can get a perfectly good one for $150,000 or less. I know that it’s hard to find reasonably priced equipment on the market currently, but $500,000 or more for a combined makes no sense when it’s doing the same job
@@JamesTyreeII it is insane to buy a new combine we bought a very good used low hour for 160k last spring and that is a lot of money
Dairy buy out remember instead of reducing production old sorry cows were sold instead still had high milk production
the way they repeatedly refer to slave labor as "self-sufficient" is wild
❤🖒🖒
I want to build a small farm under 5 acres.
Watch weed em and reap on you tube. Fantastic!
@@eunicestone838 i have. I am not into goats. That's a lot of what they do
All u need $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Feed. Seed. Fertilizer. Wire. Barn. Water. Hay Fuel. Tractor. Lots of upkeep.
They would stroke to know what we pay now.
By the sweat of thy brow.
I waited rented land for 18 yrs full time job beef cows on side everybody around had there way nephew helping city job lived below means. Some wives had jobs benefits you believed Kissinger , Dewight I believed in the Lord and myself. Don’t forget general Patton he too was in the middle of change horses and then tanks. Tighten up
When and where was this documentary made ? I live in Pakistan---from wheat, corn, cotton & rice to sugarcane, mango & orange--a country highly rich in agriculture
1980-81
🌾🥚
These grain farmers up here in Kentucky that I've met, are loaded. Yes, they certainly have debt in various forms, but they've made big money. One guy has a 2 million dollar lake house..what's that tell you??
He's swimming in debt
He must have started with a 4 million dollar lake house....
16:55
Times musta got better. The new bank is 3 times bigger today.Bet those Chandler people are filthy rich.The old blacks in this video are long dead and I bet most of their land sold off.Farmers there now probably have 200k tractors and live in fine brick homes and drive 50k pickups. I have never in my life known a farmer who was poor or not making it except to hear them tell it.
Big farmer whose land is paid for can make a living. Small farmer can’t compete even if his land is paid for. Today’s answer for the small farmer is organic truck crops sold to the rich in big cities at farmers markets.
Sorry but you guys are out of touch. Big farms go out of business all the time. Also I own only 4 acres and lease 1800. I just bought my first farm of 150 acres. It’s called working harder and making better decisions then your neighbor. I know a lot of small farmers who are doing ok and a lot of big farmers who are putting on a “show” and do g pay any of their debts.
@@Jns27j exactly right
biggest whiners of all theamerican farmer subsidized by govt and still cant makeit right ive seen there equiptment trucks and the houses they build, and bankrupt and start over 2021
@@lindabingham394 the subsidy keeps you in cheap food, not the farmer in business
Would've been nice for you to have converted the mono audio to stereo. Having the sound in just one ear is awful.
Life is tough.
Earl butz said you better get bigger
And ? I suppose you had the money to get bigger ? You believed Earl Butz ?
Agriculture is not viable to sustain the future in its current state
God will reset this world. And man will again find solace under their fig tree using a bible quote. Humans do better without the complications