How do farmers make any money?

[quicksandfarmer]

I can not believe our government would give away 400000 to fix private housing structures....or that an actual farmer would have the time to produce such a grant application.
400k is a pretty penny for 10 temp worker for a 4-6 weeks stint. She has spend 200K before having a single temp worker or costs to transport.

Seems like a scam to get free government money to me.

I know that where I am nothing gets built without a grant from the federal government. New pavement? Grant from Department of Transportation. New roof for the school? Grant from Department of Education. New firehouse? Grant from Homeland Security. New police station? Grant from the Justice Department. And if a farmer puts up fencing, a greenhouse, an irrigation system, or drills a well, that's a USDA grant.

They try to conceal it so you have to be paying attention to see it. But if you know where to look it's everywhere.

 

[RayIN]

I know that where I am nothing gets built without a grant from the federal government. New pavement? Grant from Department of Transportation. New roof for the school? Grant from Department of Education. New firehouse? Grant from Homeland Security. New police station? Grant from the Justice Department. And if a farmer puts up fencing, a greenhouse, an irrigation system, or drills a well, that's a USDA grant.

They try to conceal it so you have to be paying attention to see it. But if you know where to look it's everywhere.

Your description makes i sound like that area cannot survive without outside taxpayer support.
Farmers are normally very independent and adverse to handouts; at least in my area.

 

[Jstpssng]

About 10 years ago I took a class offered by the Cooperative Extension about starting a small farming business. It ran about 6 weeks. I got a good book on it but classes ended up being mostly training on how to access government programs.
I didn't bother attending the last session.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Your description makes i sound like that area cannot survive without outside taxpayer support.
Farmers are normally very independent and adverse to handouts; at least in my area.

Are you sure about that?

The way these grants are structured you have to really know about local politics to even know they exist.

 

[RayIN]

Are you sure about that?

The way these grants are structured you have to really know about local politics to even know they exist.

Yep, I'm sure about how your description sounds.

 

[ericm979]

Are you sure about that?

The way these grants are structured you have to really know about local politics to even know they exist.

That's true in many cases. Also the support from the government has been going on for so long that people forget it's from the government. It just becomes how things work.

For example government price supports for commodity crops. That's a huge part of the federal agriculture bill every year. They have been going on since the 1930s. Price supports include paying farmers to not grow crops, crop insurance that guarantees minimum prices, and the government buying crops to store or to send as aid to poor people and other countries, which props the price up.

Farmers get very different and beneficial tax rules than people with a regular income or small business get.

Having bought a farm and doing the research I am now seeing more of the smaller stuff that happens at a local level. In Oregon farms pay significantly less in property taxes. I wish they called this out on the property tax bill but for whatever reason they hide it. In many states farmers don't pay sales tax on farm stuff. Most farms in our area get irrigation from the irrigation district. There are charges for it but they pay for only a small part of the cost of the system. The rest is federal grants. They don't talk about that either.

There are local conservation districts who can advise you on how to run your farm and rent equipment at very cheap rates.The state university system has research sites and researchers who find better ways to grow crops, all paid for by the government. There are more I know about and I'm sure there are many I don't.

Farming is the most socialistic enterprise in the US.

Of course a lot of those programs are good for society as a whole and not just farmers.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Yep, I'm sure about how your description sounds.

Almost all of rural America would be uninhabitable without aid from the federal government.

Look up your state here and see what percent of births are paid for by Medicaid:

Births Financed by Medicaid | KFF

www.kff.org

Look up your county here and see what percent of personal income is transfer payments from the federal government:

The Contributions of Government Transfer Payments to Personal Income - farmdoc daily

Mark White - Mark White - Contributions to personal income vary widely. Many working-age Americans rely heavily on the income earned from wage and salary jobs. Other Americans — particularly many older Americans — rely more on government transfer payments. This farmdoc daily article shows how...

farmdocdaily.illinois.edu

Look up your state here and see how much of state and local budgets come from federal aid:

Which states rely the most on federal aid? | USAFacts

A fifth of state and local government revenues come from federal funding.

usafacts.org

 

[Eagle1]

Almost all of rural America would be uninhabitable without aid from the federal government.

Look up your state here and see what percent of births are paid for by Medicaid:

Births Financed by Medicaid | KFF

www.kff.org

Look up your county here and see what percent of personal income is transfer payments from the federal government:

The Contributions of Government Transfer Payments to Personal Income - farmdoc daily

Mark White - Mark White - Contributions to personal income vary widely. Many working-age Americans rely heavily on the income earned from wage and salary jobs. Other Americans — particularly many older Americans — rely more on government transfer payments. This farmdoc daily article shows how...

farmdocdaily.illinois.edu

Look up your state here and see how much of state and local budgets come from federal aid:

Which states rely the most on federal aid? | USAFacts

A fifth of state and local government revenues come from federal funding.

usafacts.org

Guess I have it all wrong, ran my campground and farm without help until I retired. Still running the farm but the only government funds was a 2500 ppp loan during covid .
No tax breaks, got charged extra for being a business. Nothing tax free just extra fees and inspections because we were a business. Now it's just a hobby farm with my critters feeding us.

Most "farmers" here have full time jobs to be afford having the farm.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

So, the federal government has an income tax, so they can control who gets the money instead of states. Has the opportunity to allow corruption into the fold...

 

[Jstpssng]

So, the federal government has an income tax, so they can control who gets the money instead of states. Has the opportunity to allow corruption into the fold...

A lot of it, such as the farm programs started out as something good but outlived it's usefulness. The problem is that once a program is started it doesn't end.