[Specop_007]

Now first and foremost, this is simply a rumor I heard from a fairly reliable source. So I have no links, but figured I'd throw it out to see if anyone could confirm and to give you guys something to think about.

As of now it sounds like banks are NOT giving operating loans to farmers. Supposedly a farmer back home was denied in securing his loans for 2009 and the banks basically said "We'll give you the money, later. Not yet." They did state he could get his loans secured for 09 if he paid up all his outstanding debt now. In order to do so he would have had to uuse his 09 operating loan, which would have meant he would have come up short.

I thought that was interesting. I dont know how accurate all of this is however so if anyone can confirm I'm interested in knowing. The land itself wont sit dormant, but if the guy owning it cant get money to work it I wonder whos going to come in and cover the costs..... Will the .gov seize the land and pay someone to work it if the farmer cant afford to work it himself? Will banks release funds to farmers at a later date, say first quarter 09? Or was this simply an isolated incident?

Inquiring minds want to know......

[TreeFarmer]

Don't panic yet.

http://www.farmcredit.com

THere will be loans for farmers, don't worry.

TF

[bratticus]

New Report: Worldwide Bankruptcy Wave About to Hit

Posted by Brian Baxter
AmLawDaily
December 18, 2008

... According to Euler, 28,000 businesses went bust in the U.S. in 2007. In 2008, that number increased nearly 45 percent -- to 42,000 insolvencies. Chapter 7 liquidations, Chapter 11 reorganizations, and Chapter 13 filings for individuals all showed dramatic increases in 2008; the only decrease came in the area of Chapter 12 filings, a chapter of the U.S. bankruptcy code usually reserved for family farmers and fishermen. (Who knows--maybe we'll all be farming or fishing six months from now.) ...

[jato]

In my community our dairy just went bankrupt. Rumor is the owner was unable to get a short term loan to buy cow feed. The owner was normally able to run his dairy (in the past) using short term credit.

[oowolf]

If this is a rumor, it's getting around fast. I just heard a similar tale from a local rancher this very morning. He appeared truly distressed about the future. Anxiety levels are rising.

[deMolay]

If this is true, could be food shortages. Bankers don't usually make very good farmers.

[SpringCreekFarm]

So if this is true, then what did the 600 billion dollar bailout accomplish? More money for the bankers while the country goes hungry. These really are troubling times.

[Schneider]

We shouldn't be surprised, we predicted this would happen sooner or later for years..

[3aidlillahi]

How in the world do farmers not get loans? "I'm sorry, but we just can't take the risk. I mean, how many people even need food these days? This "farming" business sounds like a scam, quite frankly".

*Hugs 100 pound bag of rice and mutters "My precious"*

[Denny]

This whole thing is unwinding badly for the sectors that actually produce real needed stuff. The government and powers that be are stil focused on the unreal world of paper, but they don't know what to do with the bricks and mortar and the real factors of production.

It causes one to recall of the tales of old of the settlers being foreclosed on by the villainous banks. Today, they don't wear the long moustaches but they are still banksters in the remnants of their souls. Maybe we'll see a resurgence of Woody Guthrie type songs and John Steinbeck fiction.

Another and scary long term outcome is that wealth will become even more concentrated, as the entrepreneurs who started up businesses get the heave ho and their ownership is picked up by the banks. And, lets face it, despite all the stuff we have heard of late with the auto industry bailout, its not the big multinationals who have created jobs in the past few decades, most of them have contracted their work forces, its the smaller entrepreneurial guys.

[ki11ercane]

Fortunately this is not new news. Farmers are denied these loans all the time both here and in the U.S. and has been happening for decades.

[Schneider]

How in the world do farmers not get loans? "I'm sorry, but we just can't take the risk. I mean, how many people even need food these days? This "farming" business sounds like a scam, quite frankly".

*Hugs 100 pound bag of rice and mutters "My precious"*

You forgot to hug the bag of green lentils needed to complete your proteins ..

A bottle of multivitamins wouldn't hurt !

[Sixstrings]

Ok, this pisses me off. I saw this coming months ago, but thought *surely* the government knows how important it is for farmers, of all people, to get loans to plant their crops. That's one thing we should all be able to agree on -- crops need to get in the ground.

So what's going on? Is the whole Dept of Ag asleep at the switch? In a bureaucracy, is it perenially "someone else's job" to keep track of the often overlooked but obviously important macro issues?

Heck of a job, Brownie.

[Sixstrings]

killercane wrote:

Fortunately this is not new news. Farmers are denied these loans all the time both here and in the U.S. and has been happening for decades.

Hm.. well perhaps my outrage is premature. But I still wouldn't be surprised if Big Ag gets their loans no sweat while the smaller farmers get bankrupted.

[ki11ercane]

That's why all farming is subsudized in our countries because it's a money loser business unless your a massive farm. It's not right, but it's true. No farms, we don't eat as a nation.

[JJ]

How in the world do farmers not get loans? "I'm sorry, but we just can't take the risk. I mean, how many people even need food these days? This "farming" business sounds like a scam, quite frankly".

*Hugs 100 pound bag of rice and mutters "My precious"*

You forgot to hug the bag of green lentils needed to complete your proteins ..

A bottle of multivitamins wouldn't hurt !

oh we got pinto beans

[jasonraymondson]

How in the world do farmers not get loans? "I'm sorry, but we just can't take the risk. I mean, how many people even need food these days? This "farming" business sounds like a scam, quite frankly".

*Hugs 100 pound bag of rice and mutters "My precious"*

You forgot to hug the bag of green lentils needed to complete your proteins )..

A bottle of multivitamins wouldn't hurt !

oh we got pinto beans

Black Beans are better for you

Code: Select all

1 cup uncooked white rice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (for added flavor you can substitute roasted red bell peppers or some chopped pimentos)
3 cloves minced garlic
2 16-ounce cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp white vinegar
A few dashes of Tabasco or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional Lime wedges and cilantro for garnish
Method
1 Cook rice according to package instructions. White rice usually takes 15 minutes to cook once the water is simmering, and 10 minutes to sit.

2 Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Saute onions and bell peppers for 3-4 minutes, until just beginning to soften, then add garlic and saute a minute more. Add the black beans, vinegar and Tabasco or cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

3 Stir in rice and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6.

[ki11ercane]

killercane wrote:

Fortunately this is not new news. Farmers are denied these loans all the time both here and in the U.S. and has been happening for decades.

Hm.. well perhaps my outrage is premature. But I still wouldn't be surprised if Big Ag gets their loans no sweat while the smaller farmers get bankrupted.

Oh make no mistake, it is outrageous! If we don't have farms, we cannot eat. It would take a generation and massive starvation to revert back to "individual farming." And with the minimum required space of 1 acre (200'x200') needed to feed a family consisting of 4 people, about 90% of all homes in North America don't fit the bill.

[Specop_007]

Fortunately this is not new news. Farmers are denied these loans all the time both here and in the U.S. and has been happening for decades.

Actually quite the opposite. Banks have been giving farms money whenever the farmers would walk through the door for decades. In fact, its one thing that, in my opinion, worked to destroy the small to medium farm. The only way to keep it running was to borrow money, or a quick easy way to expand was again to borrow money. You dont *really* think those quarter of a million dollar machines moving around the field are paid for do you??

[ki11ercane]

Fortunately this is not new news. Farmers are denied these loans all the time both here and in the U.S. and has been happening for decades.

Actually quite the opposite. Banks have been giving farms money whenever the farmers would walk through the door for decades. In fact, its one thing that, in my opinion, worked to destroy the small to medium farm. The only way to keep it running was to borrow money, or a quick easy way to expand was again to borrow money. You dont *really* think those quarter of a million dollar machines moving around the field are paid for do you??

Then I guess it's only a U.S. phenom then. Here in Canada with our strict banking laws, if you can't afford to borrow the money, you don't get it in the first place. Therefore you won't own the farm that needs the $250,000.00 tractor. We simply just don't hand out money that way here.

And yes, considering I grew up around farmers and having lived about 2000 yards from a farm community that has a John Deere dealership inside it, those machines here at least are either paid for, leased, loaned out under secure credit conditions, or the farmer participates in a government subsidy program. So far it's worked for our economy overall here in Canucksville.