American Agriculture Movement

MarkB_MI · Nov 17, 2020

I found it interesting that neither of the threads about farming in the seventies mentioned the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Agriculture_Movement">"American Agriculture" movement</a> of the late seventies. Maybe y'all liked how things were going back then, but there were at least a few farmers who were mad as heck about farm prices and wanted Big Government to step in and do something about it. They even went so far as to threaten to go on strike and not produce anything until they got their way! Of course, that would require most of the farmers in the country to agree on something, so it was doomed to failure. They did stage a few big protests that would put BLM to shame, and even drove a bunch of tractors up to DC.

I guess AAM is still around, after a fashion. Or at least they have a <a href="http://aaminc.org/">website</a>. But then so does everybody else.

NY 986 · Nov 17, 2020

Nobody that I knew went to a tractor-cade in DC back then. Farmers then as well as other times have been their own worst enemy when it come to profitability and finances. There is a guy in the area who tried to ride the run up during the 1970's and lost during the 1980's. If you are not making a profit at current and don't expect things to change with an increase in size then why do you try to expand? He was literally running his operation like a gaming table in Vegas. People scuffed at my father for not wildly expanding and buying equipment during the 1970's and the 1980's were very tough but at least we survived while others were sold out on the courthouse steps.

Traditional Farmer · Nov 17, 2020

I know where the threshing machine is that was up on the Capitol Steps,one tractor parade went up US29 a couple miles from my place on the way to DC.Biggest thing wrong with farming is the
Federal Gov't has kept a lot of farmers in business that should have gone broke or sold out and moved on to other occupations.

TBA · Nov 17, 2020

Right or Wrong ? A neighbor paid me to drive one of his tractors in the tractor parade to Richmond VA at that time. Tractors were staged the day before outside the city and proceeded the next day. Extremely cold day with a open station tractor, and the 30 mile ride back to his farm.

1948CaseVAI · Nov 17, 2020

NY986 is righ. All people, not just farmers, need to pay attention and be smart and frugal. Those guys who were in a bind in the 70s had only themselves to blame. Anyone dumb enough to think that big government ever made a positive difference in anything is just a hick rube.

DeltaSteve · Nov 17, 2020

Absolutely right! those guys that got into trouble(and are now) is largely their own fault. Times when there were good/bumper crops and high commodity prices those guys went out and bought new equipment and financed it heavily. When the crops failed and the prices dropped,they were up $#!+ creek.They would have been much better off to pay down some debt,and put the rest in saveings.

flying belgian · Nov 17, 2020

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

David from Kansas · Nov 17, 2020

SVcummins · Nov 17, 2020

They lit houses on fire?

1206SWMO · Nov 17, 2020

The 1970's were actually pretty good for farming in my area...There was some AAM activity in the area..Starting in 1980 we had 7 bad years in a row with record drought in 1980 and ending with a 500 year flood in 1986..One day in the middle of July 1980 it got to 112 degrees with wind..Anything that was green that morning was brown by dark..The corn,milo,and soybeans were almost a total failure...Only one corn field in the county was shelled..In 1981 we fought mud all year and I lost lots of wheat..We didnt have one good year from 1980-1986....This coupled with 15-20% interest ruined about half the farmers around here..Even the frugal ones had trouble staying afloat...New 1982 model tractors and combines were sitting on the dealers lots in 1985..

MarkB_MI · Nov 18, 2020

> This coupled with 15-20% interest ruined about half the farmers around here.

Folks who are nostalgic about those halcyon days of the late seventies and early eighties seem to forget the high interest rates.

Angle Iron · Nov 18, 2020

(quoted from post at 04:17:45 11/18/20) > This coupled with 15-20% interest ruined about half the farmers around here.

Folks who are nostalgic about those halcyon days of the late seventies and early eighties seem to forget the high interest rates.

Those interest rates ruined a lot of the small rural businesses that were trying to make it back then as well. Whole community's suffered.

Texasmark1 · Nov 18, 2020

Fast forward: Today I find investors scooping up small town independent banks, like mine. With banks paying around 1% and loans up around 6-7% for reliable borrowers, that's a pretty good, stable income on an investment. Problem with being retired, you can't take a chance on a risky investment of any kind. You have to stay the course and that means you loose money, even with the "so called" 1.5% inflation. I accidentally snagged a 2.5% 5 year CD with Ally Bank. Good for a couple more years. Looking at their offerings now, down with the rest of the pack.

MarkB_MI · Nov 18, 2020

> Problem with being retired, you can't take a chance on a risky investment of any kind.

Well, this is another topic. But with near-zero interest rates, you're already taking a risk if you put all your savings in interest-bearing accounts and nothing in equity. The risk is you'll run out of money before you croak. Putting just a fraction of your savings in equity reduces that risk substantially. I think most investment advisors recommend putting around 30 percent of your savings in stocks; I currently try to keep about 67 percent in stocks and 33 percent in bonds.

caterpillar guy · Nov 20, 2020

The problem with saving money is the tax code, says if I save any then The taxes are such there is no savings. By the time I pay the taxes. Also I have not seen stock investments being so great. I'll keep mine in dirt and equipment. It doesn't fly away with some magical loss like in stock. I do have a small bit from back when I bought that BS and still fight to keep it from disappearing while invested. I guess it will not matter shortly if we do get the poison it appears was voted in. We'll all be picking sh with the chickens.

American Agriculture Movement

MarkB_MI

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NY 986

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Traditional Farmer

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TBA

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1948CaseVAI

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DeltaSteve

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flying belgian

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David from Kansas

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SVcummins

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1206SWMO

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MarkB_MI

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Angle Iron

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Texasmark1

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MarkB_MI

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caterpillar guy

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