http://www.100khouse.com/2009/11/02/land-ethics-and-idea-of-the-past-or-a-solution-for-the-future/ The former home of the 100k Blog Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:21:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.100khouse.com/2009/11/02/land-ethics-and-idea-of-the-past-or-a-solution-for-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-4766 tom toolbag Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:50:56 +0000 http://www.100khouse.com/?p=1436#comment-4766 Why should we use land? When it comes to farmland, it's like everything else. GREED. I live in Illinois and there are 27 million acres of farmland. The average age of farmers is right at 60 y/o. The majority of farmers in Illinois work 200 days or more OFF the farm, and get MORE THAN HALF their income from off the farm. There are 1.9 million farms today natiowide, down from 8.8 million after WW2, and 1/2 of all farmland will change hands from the current owner in less than 15 years. Consider this. Some farmland here has tripled in per/acre price in 25-30 years, but grain prices are the same, except recently have inched up because of inflation. Livestock prices are the same with pork drastically lower. Seed, fertilizer, equipment and taxes have all risen though. Farmers don't have a choice but to chase money(subsidized crops) just to survive. Ag subsidies are just a way to buy votes and channel money to banks and Wall Street. Look at the latest farm bill, politicians wanted to cut it bank, because the bang-for-the-buck that it has for votes is nill. One thing they kept was crop insurance subsidies, the premiums that are paid by the gov't. Why? Because the premiums goes to Wall Street. THEY CAN SUBSIDIZE SOMETHING ELSE THAT RETURNS FAR MORE VOTES NOW. If you have to subsidize a business or sector, are they artificially "propped up" or in other words, is the demand there? Where is all the subsidy money going to? Banks! One small change in the tax code allowed farmers to offset taxes by buying equipment, so you now have massively inflated equipment prices, both new and used, not to mention the majority of the purchase price is financed. This is ON TOP OF their annual operating loans, that eats up around 40% of profit yearly.Go to AG Online, it's a web-site of a farm magazine and click onto the talk button for the message boards and read some of the issues that are "discussed" there. If you can get past the "Obama is a commie-socialist" crap, you can see the disgust and get an idea for the problems and issues that they face now. Ironically, health issues are a major problem in the farm communities because of access to, and cost, and a lot of farmers and/or their wives have to work off the farm for health insurance, but they think that universal health-care is an "Obomination". Then again, every time politicians have kicked them in the teeth, it's been done by the very ones they support... republicans. Just look at the 1980's, with their dear "RONNY" Reagan, and remember the crisis he put them through, and the AG. Sec. was from 25 miles from where I grew up, John Block, yea the same farmer that went BANKRUPT! The oppress, then find a solution or give-a-farmer-a-bone trick works every time. It's a form of indentured servitude. Oppress, then give them a little money to survive, and constantly threaten to take that money away. IT'S DISGUSTING! What's this got to do with land? Well it explains how it is currently being used. Although the american diet isn't grain-based, 70% of corn grown goes to feed animals that we consume as a meat-based diet. Supposedly it is a sign of how advanced our society is, and an indication of of the staus of a countries' advancement. Buuuuuuut.....heart disease and related deathes are the leading cause of death in our country. Why not grow our "food" in greenhouses where it is more efficient and a far more controlled environment? Know any empty manufacturing buildings sitting around that could be converted onto a greenhouse? Why should we use land? When it comes to farmland, it’s like everything else. GREED. I live in Illinois and there are 27 million acres of farmland. The average age of farmers is right at 60 y/o. The majority of farmers in Illinois work 200 days or more OFF the farm, and get MORE THAN HALF their income from off the farm. There are 1.9 million farms today natiowide, down from 8.8 million after WW2, and 1/2 of all farmland will change hands from the current owner in less than 15 years.
Consider this. Some farmland here has tripled in per/acre price in 25-30 years, but grain prices are the same, except recently have inched up because of inflation. Livestock prices are the same with pork drastically lower. Seed, fertilizer, equipment and taxes have all risen though. Farmers don’t have a choice but to chase money(subsidized crops) just to survive. Ag subsidies are just a way to buy votes and channel money to banks and Wall Street. Look at the latest farm bill, politicians wanted to cut it bank, because the bang-for-the-buck that it has for votes is nill. One thing they kept was crop insurance subsidies, the premiums that are paid by the gov’t. Why? Because the premiums goes to Wall Street. THEY CAN SUBSIDIZE SOMETHING ELSE THAT RETURNS FAR MORE VOTES NOW.
If you have to subsidize a business or sector, are they artificially “propped up” or in other words, is the demand there? Where is all the subsidy money going to? Banks! One small change in the tax code allowed farmers to offset taxes by buying equipment, so you now have massively inflated equipment prices, both new and used, not to mention the majority of the purchase price is financed. This is ON TOP OF their annual operating loans, that eats up around 40% of profit yearly.Go to AG Online, it’s a web-site of a farm magazine and click onto the talk button for the message boards
and read some of the issues that are “discussed” there. If you can get past the “Obama is a commie-socialist” crap, you can see the disgust and get an idea for the problems and issues that they face now. Ironically, health issues are a major problem in the farm communities because of access to, and cost, and a lot of farmers and/or their wives have to work off the farm for health insurance, but they think that universal health-care is an “Obomination”. Then again, every time politicians have kicked them in the teeth, it’s been done by the very ones they support… republicans. Just look at the 1980′s, with their dear “RONNY” Reagan, and remember the crisis he put them through, and the AG. Sec. was from 25 miles from where I grew up, John Block, yea the same farmer that went BANKRUPT! The oppress, then find a solution or give-a-farmer-a-bone trick works every time. It’s a form of indentured servitude. Oppress, then give them a little money to survive, and constantly threaten to take that money away. IT’S DISGUSTING!
What’s this got to do with land? Well it explains how it is currently being used. Although the american diet isn’t grain-based, 70% of corn grown goes to feed animals that we consume as a meat-based diet. Supposedly it is a sign of how advanced our society is, and an indication of of the staus of a countries’ advancement. Buuuuuuut…..heart disease and related deathes are the leading cause of death in our country.
Why not grow our “food” in greenhouses where it is more efficient and a far more controlled environment? Know any empty manufacturing buildings sitting around that could be converted onto a greenhouse?

]]> http://www.100khouse.com/2009/11/02/land-ethics-and-idea-of-the-past-or-a-solution-for-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-4761 Rita Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:35:38 +0000 http://www.100khouse.com/?p=1436#comment-4761 I live in farm country and it is not urban sprawl that is casuing farmers to sell out to developers. The sad truth of the matter is that price control, market control and corporate control have prevented most suburban framers from making a decent living. Repeatedly I see situations where farming at best becomes a breakeven business where the spouse and children need to go out and get city jobs just to keep the farm from being a loss. That's really a terrible situation. Perhaps instead of each election day (which is today) instead of voting for millions of dollars in land preservation we vote to allow the price of milk go up a few cents and vote for farmer subsidies so that we can keep this part of American alive and healthy while at the same time preserving productive land and businesses that actually puts local food on our tables. I live in farm country and it is not urban sprawl that is casuing farmers to sell out to developers. The sad truth of the matter is that price control, market control and corporate control have prevented most suburban framers from making a decent living. Repeatedly I see situations where farming at best becomes a breakeven business where the spouse and children need to go out and get city jobs just to keep the farm from being a loss.
That’s really a terrible situation. Perhaps instead of each election day (which is today) instead of voting for millions of dollars in land preservation we vote to allow the price of milk go up a few cents and vote for farmer subsidies so that we can keep this part of American alive and healthy while at the same time preserving productive land and businesses that actually puts local food on our tables.

]]> http://www.100khouse.com/2009/11/02/land-ethics-and-idea-of-the-past-or-a-solution-for-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-4758 ed Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:08:31 +0000 http://www.100khouse.com/?p=1436#comment-4758 As a student of Architecture I am glad to be apart of the "green" movement. It's about time we begin to recognize the impact that the 1950's and 60's sub-urban sprawl has had on our environment as well as our society. This idea is a failed experiment and we have to change the mentality of the world inorder to save it. Our over consumption of the natural resources the earth has provided has left us in an age of deterioration of the planet. We are killing our planet with the choices our parents made and now it's time we nourished the earth and use it's resources to the best of our ability and sparingly. As a student of Architecture I am glad to be apart of the “green” movement. It’s about time we begin to recognize the impact that the 1950′s and 60′s sub-urban sprawl has had on our environment as well as our society. This idea is a failed experiment and we have to change the mentality of the world inorder to save it. Our over consumption of the natural resources the earth has provided has left us in an age of deterioration of the planet. We are killing our planet with the choices our parents made and now it’s time we nourished the earth and use it’s resources to the best of our ability and sparingly.

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