Big Brother!

As a follow up to my last few posts, I read this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/magazine/17foreclosure-t.html?_r=4&hp=&pagewanted=all) today and found it interesting and somewhat comforting to find that we are not the only ones who should have known better. Not that I would ever wish hardship on another person, but as the saying goes, misery loves company.

Recently we spent the day in our local mountains. We were out hunting for wild berry bushes for some foraging later in the season. We did a little hiking and then let the kids try to catch some fish. We had a wonderful day, we slowed down and just enjoyed our surroundings and really took the time to notice the beauty all around. It wasn't all beauty, as we were walking along a creek, stepping from rock to rock, Bryan was leading the way and noticed in the spot he was getting ready to step in there was a large rattle snake. The snake was as anxious to avoid us as we were him, so we all went our separate ways. But the encounter reminded me of trip that the kids and I had taken to Devil's Punchbowl. We have gone out there several times and it is a great spot for an easy and fun day hike. This particular day we found another group of people at the stream when we got there. They were having a good time, playing in the water and climbing on the rocks. I overheard one of the kids say to another that they should be careful, there could be poison ivy or something. The other kids response was disturbing to say the least. He said, "This is government land, there can't be any poisonous plants here." Yikes! The complete trust in the government to keep them safe, to keep them from any and all worries.

Which brings me to my day today. Today the kids and I went to a listening session with the USDA in regards to NAIS http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/feedback.shtml. I am vehemently opposed to this program and found this a good opportunity to stand with the opposition. It was a very disappointing event. There was a minimal turnout, only 40 or 50 citizens. There were nearly as many representatives from USDA as there were normal people. The main problem was that there was very little notice given of these sessions, I happened to hear of it through another yahoo group, Californians against NAIS. The other problem was that the session was in Southern California, not exactly a hub of agriculture. To get a better turnout it should have been held where the producers are. Of those there, I would guess the there were 60% opposed, and 40% in favor. Those in favor were representatives of large, confinement type operations.

I had gone for several reasons, one was that since the kids and I have been discussing government and the difference between old style common law and the change to majority rule, political law this was a great opportunity for the kids to see the system in action. But we could have gotten that at a city council meeting or some other local government function. The main reason was that I was interested in finding out "from the horse's mouth" what the vision for this program is. There are many claims out there about what this program is going to do, the huge expenses, the burdensome reporting, the invasion of privacy, the ability of the government to quickly locate your healthy animals and destroy them whenever there is a disease outbreak. All of the information provided by the USDA about these sessions is that NAIS is a foregone conclusion and they are just looking for ways to shove it down our throats. There was no overview of how the program will work. There was a comment about all of the "misinformation" out there, but no real answers about what the program will look like. In the statement by the California State Veterinarian he said that our comments would be read and carefully considered "before we move forward in developing an acceptable system". The question that was raised over and over again is why does there need to be a new system. The gentleman from the USDA that was representing the NAIS program claimed that it has never been about food safety. And yet that is how it has been touted. He said that it is about animal health and traceability in event of a disease outbreak. But there are already numerous programs in place for this very purpose. One lady who was there as a supporter of small, family farms brought up the point that we would be better served in being proactive in promoting animal health instead of being so worried about tracing back after something has gone wrong. By that point it is too late and the government is going around eradicating entire herds. A comment from a poultry association representative cracked me up. He said something along the lines of, "We need to get our industries to buy into the program. If we don't, it will no longer be a voluntary system, it will be mandatory". You don't have to sign up for the program, unless you don't sign up for it.

There was a dairy farmer present who said that for him the program was not much additional burden, they already have plenty of regulations and tracking that they are required to do. He said they are already paying over $100,000 per year in fees and permits, but he is concerned about how it will affect other types of producers. I don't have anything profound to add to the discussion. There have been plenty of things said and written by brilliant people, to get some really great information about NAIS I suggest http://www.nonais.org/. I just wonder why this has to be implemented, why another government program? There are already programs to track animals for various outbreaks. There are required inspections to transport animals across state lines and to take your animals to fairs, etc. Responsible people are already ensuring the health and well being of their animals. We do not have huge outbreaks of diseases on a frequent basis, and they usually do a pretty good job of containing them when there are. There are already businesses in the market place that provide tracking for producers that want that extra reassurance.

If they want to provide a program such as NAIS so that producers can dupe the public into believing that the animals are healthy, allow producers to opt into it like they do with the "organic" label. If it is for the export market, only require exporters to participate. My big question is with the amount of time and energy our current administration has spent denouncing the bad and failed policies of the previous one, why would they continue trying to push this unpopular and unworkable plan?

Our toughest cut!

In all honesty we have been pretty irresponsible with our money. As I listen and read about the budget problems of the local, state, and federal governments as well as the banks, corporations, etc. I can see how easy it is to get into these situations, not that I am excusing them or suggesting that it is our responsibility as taxpayers to bail any of them out. I read an article in Newsweek magazine about credit cards and how much more people will spend if they are using a credit card to pay for the purchase and are much more willing to spend if they are not actually spending their cold, hard cash http://www.newsweek.com/id/172592. It is so easy to pull out a credit card and figure that there will be more money to pay for the purchase in the future. Of course the extra money never comes and before you know it you are borrowing from one card to pay for another. Then comes the day that the piper must be paid, not a good day!





Bryan spent a couple of years working solely on commission for a pest control company as the real estate market was beginning it's free fall. For those two years the pay was abysmal. He was job searching during this time and switched to a new job as soon as he was able to find one, but in the meantime we sank further and further into debt to meet the shortfall and, yes, we also overspent. Then reality started to sink in and we realized that our financial situation was out of control and it was time to put a stop to the money hemorrhage. The first thing to go was the television. We turned off the satellite a year and a half ago and haven't regretted it for a day. Then we started canceling things like our http://www.audible.com/ subscription and not renewing our magazines. We went from two cell phones and a land line to just one cell phone, we switched to a less expensive internet supplier, cancelled the kid's music lessons. We have started really watching every dime that we spend on groceries and have stopped buying things we can make ourselves; bread, tortillas, cookies, laundry soap, etc. We have utilized the services of a credit counseling agency to help us with our credit card debt which means that we have cut up all of the credit cards and we are now on a plan to get our card payed off in 4 years. There have been no sacred cows in our personal budget, even the life insurance went. So as I listen to all of the hand wringing from government officials about how they don't have any money left and they are going to have to cut programs, well, I don't have any sympathy at all. The state workers have already had their pay cut by 10% and now they are talking about an additional 5% pay cut. While I am not excited about the prospect, I understand that there should be no sacred cows in the government either. And, of course, a pay cut is much better than a layoff!



I must admit that I am not a big fan of Bryan being an employee in the "public sector" (neither is he, it was a difficult decision to even apply for the job to begin with). As a firm believer in free-market economics and Adam Smith style capitalism, I really prefer the idea of working to actually produce something. Which is why we started raising animals to begin with. My ideal life would be agrarian, kind of "Amish Lite", our family on a bunch of acres, working the land, raising animals, etc. What more basic need is there than that of food, especially responsibly, sustainably raised food. And that brings us to our toughest cut yet. We have made the decision that we can no longer afford the pigs, meat chickens, and turkeys. We will be selling off our breeding stock of pigs and turkeys and this will be our last batch of meat chickens. Hopefully we will be able to continue with our dairy goats, egg chickens, and meat rabbits as these animals do not cost as much to raise. If anyone is looking for registered Berkshire pigs, we have a boar/sow pair that we are selling for $1,200.00. We will be selling our Gloucestershire Old Spots females for $600.00 for the pair (they are available for breeding only). And we are selling our adult Blue Slate Turkeys for $50.00 each, we have 3 hens and a tom. If you would like any further information about any of these animals please contact us at stephanie@dirtcreekfarm.com or (760)249-8871.

Not the best picture, but a recent shot of our boar "Ego Trip.

The kids and I have been reading some really excellent books by Richard J. Maybury called the Uncle Eric books http://www.bluestockingpress.com/ . The books are very well written and easy to understand, I cannot recommend them highly enough! In the study guide on economics that goes along with the book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy there is an article called Dear Mr. Ag Secretary, author unknown, that I thought was very entertaining in light of our recent decision.




Dear Mr. Ag Secretary:


My friend Mort Wilson received a check for $1,000 from the government for not raising hogs. So I want to get into the "not raising hogs" business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best type of farm to not raise hogs on, and what is the best breed of hogs not to raise?


If I get $1,000 for not raising 50 hogs, will I get $2,000 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 "not raised" hogs, which will give me $80,000 income the first year. Then I can afford an airplane.


Now another thing: These hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of corn. I understand you also pay farmers for not raising corn and wheat. Will I qualify for payments for not raising corn and wheat not to feed the 4,000 hogs I am not going to raise?


I am also considering not milking cows, so please send me information on that, too.


In view of these circumstances, I understand that the government will consider me unemployed, so I plan to file for unemployment and food stamps.



Be assured that you will have my vote in the coming elections.


Patriotically yours,




A. Prospective Farmer

Kansas



We are hoping that these cuts will be enough to get us through these tough financial times. Especially as we are running out of things to eliminate. Our goal is to get ourselves out of this hole we have dug ourselves into as honorably and responsibly as possible. We were irresponsible with our money and the blame is completely ours. We are looking forward to the euphoria that will come after toughing this out.