What is Digg?108 Comments
- inactive, on 07/22/2008, -6/+56they forgot to mention the subsidies...
- Screwy1138, on 07/23/2008, -4/+33That's dumb. 20 cents out of the dollar is pretty good given the whole supply chain.
Yes, farmers markets are great. - sneakeykop, on 07/22/2008, -11/+29
record industry = farming indistry - madrigaelic, on 07/22/2008, -2/+19@sneakeykop: except, like, you need food, and you don't need, say, plastic discs filled with music.
- kinerry, on 07/23/2008, -5/+2220% margins...***** I need to start selling food!
- jmpeagle, on 07/23/2008, -4/+20and oil companies only keep 10% of the price of gasoline we pay at the pump...it's all in quantity.
- SouthernGuy118, on 07/23/2008, -4/+18it's sad they get paid little, because farming is HARD work.
On top of that, farmers' profits regularly get raped by mother nature. Now they get raped by food corporations - TJ11240, on 07/23/2008, -2/+14http://www.newdream.org/marketplace/eat_well_guide ...
Support local farmers markets. - inactive, on 07/23/2008, -3/+14stop raising corn, start raising hell.
- chancel, on 07/23/2008, -2/+12What a stupid article because all of the examples listed require processing. Farmers don't grow Beer or potato chips. The grow wheat and potatoes. That is the same as saying farmers only get 1 cent from a cotton shirt, overlooking that fact of what it took to turn the raw product into something usable.
Show me a list of basic items, like corn on the cob, tomatoes, etc., and how much the farmers get from those purchases. - jmpeagle, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10net income includes investments into the land...so that value is after deducting all their business expenses
- dzw120, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10Agreed, 20% is very good if that really is the profit margin. For people that don't know, grocery stores average around a 2% profit margin. Retailers like Wal-Mart are roughly at 4%. The article also factored in taxes before arriving at 20% so in fact the margin is even higher.
I really can't feel bad for farmers when they are on average more wealthy than the rest of the population. (www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/April05/Features/FarmRetirement.htm) Also take into consideration that some farmers pay migrant workers very poorly. And that billions of our tax dollars are used for farm subsidies when farmers are better-off than most of us. They're not getting any pity from me with their fat 20% profit margins. - inactive, on 07/23/2008, -3/+12The rise of the millionaire farmer is one of the great untold stories of the 2000's. It is a disgusting example of the unintended consequences permanent welfare state. It lowers all of our standards of living. If you got rid of Iowa as the first test in the Presidential race you could get rid of farm subsidies.
- minnymoo, on 07/23/2008, -0/+9i once ate my entire collection of Pink Floyd to survive in the Amazon.
true story, kinda. okay, no. but i love my music. - hwy61revisited, on 07/22/2008, -4/+13I thought it was only 5 cents...
- mboudro, on 07/23/2008, -0/+8Government subsidies are never good. Ever. No matter what the situation. It destroys the economics behind the free market.
And I've been around farming my entire life, small farmers at that... and trust me, they are never the ones receiving the subsidies anyway, it's always the farmers mass producing enough product to make the subsidies something significant. - Ghoztt, on 07/23/2008, -0/+8Buy from your local Farmer's Market!
- K1I2M3, on 07/23/2008, -1/+9What a horrible rate. I get my produce from farmers markets.
- Defuser, on 07/23/2008, -4/+12Boy, only 20%! That sucks! Maybe they can figure out a way to increase profits, like maybe coming up with a way that each and every American will have to use their product multiple times a day.
- jthei, on 07/23/2008, -0/+7that's why I'm switching to all digital downloads, I'm trying to torrent a bushel of corn but I need more seeds.
/corniness - Halgy, on 07/23/2008, -2/+9And pretty much any farmers who are wealthy come from cooperate farms. The average family farm, even with subsidies, can barely survive.
- inactive, on 07/23/2008, -1/+7@southernguy118
The cost for up-keep on farms and equipment has actually gone down (aside from the price of energy), so I fail to see how your argument is at all logical. They've always had the costs of upkeep, and now make 33% more than the average American, and almost twice what they did 10 years ago. - st0ney, on 07/23/2008, -0/+6Well not really, the distribution of fresh food is quite a bit more expensive then the costs that the record industry deal with.
We do need to find a way to lower costs. I've worked on a number of farms and farmers are seeing hard times and they only look like they are getting harder. Small time farmers are going out of business all the time. - MASH007, on 07/23/2008, -0/+6SVOboy I would suggest taking an ECON 101 class :-)
- illusion2269, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5I wonder how many of the people commenting on here have actually worked on or grown up on a farm instead of just driving by one. I grew up on a small family farm, and my father never bought brand new machinery every so many years. He was smart and would get good used machinery, fix it himself when he could, and use it for many years. He is still using a few of the same tractors now that he used when I was growing up and helping out on the farm. With all that, he was still barely able to squeak out a living for us many years without either him or my mother working a 2nd job.
To those people who are looking at the 20% as "margin" don't understand basic economics. That is their gross take. It really does cost alot of money to buy seed, plant, cultivate, spray, water, de-weed, harvest, and truck the food that goes on your plates. Subtract those costs from the money they get for their products, and you're not left with very much anymore. Yes farmers do also carry crop insurance, but I don't know of any business that doesn't carry some kind of insurance that will protect them against loss.
So before you start thinking that family farms are rolling in the dough, try putting yourself in their shoes first. Just my 2 cents. - santaliqueur, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5That is bumper sticker material.
- inactive, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5@bamont
Beware of the stats, the agromegacorps are lumped into the sum. - judicar, on 07/23/2008, -4/+9Yeah, I'm not sure what business the submitter is in but 20% margins is pretty damn good.
Apple (the company) has profit margins of less than 14%.
http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASD ... - DucoNihilum, on 07/23/2008, -4/+9They don't make any actual money from farming, they make all their money from subsidies.
- DyceFreak, on 07/23/2008, -1/+6I don't know, last I checked getting 20% on a mass produced product is actually quite good after the business markups and expenses are said and done.
- jmpeagle, on 07/23/2008, -6/+11except the average farmer makes 33% more than the average American according to the USDA in 2004. With prices today, you can bet they are doing much better than that.
- TinternAbbot, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5Not if you go to a farmer's market.
- krnldmp, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4Those of you saying that's good "margin" should probably understand that 20% ain't profit, its net, which means most farmers aren't exactly swimming in cash.
- Jebra, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4But it's 10x quality, usually completely organic, and the nice farmers will throw in extras for you and let you try everything. Become a regular and they'll give you a discount.
- inactive, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4That means if I grow my own veggies in the back yard or give them to a friend, the USDA is going to sue me?
- granolajoe, on 07/23/2008, -1/+5I couldn't imagine a day without music. Food, on the other hand...
- skipdog172, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4farmers must be poor in states other than nebraska then. farmers certainly aren't poor here...
- picpak, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4Let's hope the grain distributors start suing people who've never even been on a farm.
- trevorh, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4Who said anything about 20% profit out of that 20% farmers have to cover their costs of fuel, equipment, seed, fertilizer, and all of their other expenses.
- MacEnvy, on 07/23/2008, -1/+5The average farmer, but not the median farmer. It's disingenuous to lump together small family farms and large corporate farms.
- Arkons24, on 07/23/2008, -3/+7Your comments are made of win sir.
- hwy61revisited, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4Agreed!
- xGraphite, on 07/23/2008, -1/+4It says the farmer get 20 cents on the dollar the consumer spends at the end. Don't forget that it costs that farmer 18-19 cents of that 20 to produce the wheat/corn/sugar/whatever.
- smacksaw, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3I would add that most farmers' markets are closed from October to April. Snow and rain tend to sort of mess that up.
- MacEnvy, on 07/23/2008, -1/+4Stop raising children, start lowering demand.
- skipdog172, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3well that certainly isnt the case in nebraska. you should see some of the houses that these family farms can afford....
- maiku00, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3look around your area for farmers markets, they are all over the place. the freshest and healthiest food you can get, and you are supporting your local farmers.
- inactive, on 07/23/2008, -0/+2It's 5%, btw.
- subterfuge, on 07/23/2008, -1/+3@MacEnvy
why is it disingenuous to compare small farms with large farms? is it also disingenuous to compare small retail stores with large retail stores and small electronics companies with large ones? they are in the same business and SHOULD be compared. -
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