AMEN TO A CONVENTIONAL FARMER

Last week's nice big op-ed in the Wall Street Journal  by Mark Heckman, vice chairman of the Global Farmer Network and commercial conventional cattle, corn, and hog producer hit the nail on the head. 

                  Rarely do I see eye-to-eye with these folks, but boy howdy, this one is spot on.  When I find a point of agreement with the other side, I try to applaud and this is one of those cases.

                  If you missed it he essentially excoriates Trump's tariffs for damaging agriculture.  He writes "steep fertilizer costs and low soybean prices have made it hard to make ends meet this year.  We're on the verge of the nation's worst farm crisis since the 1980s.  Mr. Trump's trade wars are a big part of the problem.  They've cost me and other farmers dearly."

                  I guess I should excuse his ungrammatical inversion of "me" in the last sentence--you always supposed to put yourself last.  But he's probably addicted to country music, which constantly makes this ungrammatical inversion and generally uses "me" when "I" should be used.  I think more words rhyme with me than with I.  But that's a rabbit trail. 

                  He goes on to write that "most of mine [soybeans] will sit unsold in a warehouse" compared to the 275 million bushels China is going to buy from Argentina.  And then he goes on to write "much of the media is describing the potential relief payments to American soybean farmers as a 'bailout.'  I see that as a slap in the face.  The money won't come close to making up for the hurt in farm country." 

                  At this point in the piece, I view it as typical conventional whining.  But my goodness howdy the last paragraph is a zinger:  "The government should get out of the American farmers' way and allow market forces to work.  Don't give us handouts.  Let us sell what we grow to the people who want to buy it, at home and abroad." 

                  Be still my beating heart.  Does he want to end subsidies?  End subsidized ethanol that eats up half the American corn crop?  End food regulations that won't let me sell a chicken pot pie to a neighbor?  Or homemade corn bread? 

                  Could it possibly be that all this brouhaha in farm country is making even the Devil want to dance with libertarian angels?  It seems too far out to imagine, but all we can do is look at what the guy says and say "Amen, brother."

                  Do you think the Global Farmer Network would sign on to a FOOD EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION?  Really?