An Argument for Farmers Needing Help

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Agriculture is a tough field to enter. Farming is no ordinary profession, nor is it cheap. With farming, comes many risks - some even life threatening. As with any other profession, equipment is needed to perform the job effectively. In this field, the equipment is very costly. The prices of the equipment, chemicals, and seed are increasing whereas the prices of the crop are steady decreasing. How are farmers supposed to make a substantial income when the prices are overwhelming? Can the government not allow a set income for farmers each year, in addition to their profit?

Twenty years ago when prices equaled each other. A farmer would purchase seed that was harvested from the year before, formerly known as “brown bag seed.” This seed usually ran for five dollars a bag.

There are now ways of technology that help make a more productive crop. This makes the prices increase. For instance, there are now “round-up ready” seed. This seed has extra technology put into it. This reduces the price of some chemicals, but not much.

After the seed is purchased, is only the beginning of the process to buy the other materials. Next comes the machinery. Today an average cotton picker sells for three hundred thousand dollars. The average farmer will yield a crop that will make him about thirty-five thousand dollars a year, not including the extra intense labor that he may use on the equipment itself.

Chemicals can be quite costly as well, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. With these chemicals, you need the proper equipment to distribute the chemicals effectively. Many dangers are faced when releasing the chemicals, for example, the hours used up on the equipment will make your machinery more susceptible to breakdowns. The chemical could also damage your crop if not used correctly. This damage to the crops causes the farmers’ average yearly income to decrease intensely.

As you can see, farming is not a job one can do alone. Great help is needed to make the maximum yield possible. The money to pay for these helpers comes from the farmer’s own personal checkbook. The hired hands have a promised amount of money per hour in which they will receive, whereas the farmers do not.

Farmers have no specific amount of money that they are going to receive each year. This unreliability upon income causes financial problems when a family is involved.

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