Farm for Sale

It's been another busy week on the farm. We have been cultivating weeds, spraying for bugs and getting ready to water again. We've already had our first bloom. It would have been earlier, but the lygus bugs really devastated the early crop. Still a long way to go til harvest, but it sire looks pretty for now.
   For the record, please notice we are irrigating every other road. I have had three reporters from Europe on the farm in the last two weeks. They are asking a lot of questions about the drought. I try to explain we have never had water to waste. We are always careful with every gallon.

I got a surprise looking down this morning. We've been so busy I didn't realize I was creeping up on another milestone- 440,000 miles. Not only am I cheap, but I really like this truck. We've got a lot of miles together. The seat is comfortable, the air conditioning works and the radio is fine. It's starting to show it's age, but I really don't want another truck. It's like a favorite shirt or old ball cap- it just fits.

Farm for Sale

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright June 2015

            Last summer a friend brought his family out to the car. He’s a great guy. I met him and his wife traveling in Israel a while back. I showed them the fields and equipment. I showed them how we measured soil moisture to schedule irrigations and how I swept the field for bugs and how we decided to whether to spray or not. As he was getting into the car Doc looked back at me and said, “ Too many moving parts.” Doc is a pretty smart guy. He is a pediatric anesthesiologist. He added, “Give me a body to take care of.” As I said, Doc’s a pretty smart guy. If farming is too complicated for a pediatric anesthesiologist, maybe it is complicated.

Maybe it is too complicated, but somebody’s got to do it or we don’t eat.

Like most farmers, my ground is precious to me. Some of it has sentimental value, it was farmed by Sheryl’s grandfather. I have sweated over all of it for most of my life. I used to think I would never sell an acre. But, I am re-thinking that.

            There are a lot of people who seem to think they know how to farm better than I do. The environmentalists are sure they know how to take care of things. Government regulators are glad to tell me how to run my farm.

            I have had people tell me, ‘why don’t you just put in drip irrigation? That will solve all your problems.’ Really? I usually ask, ‘Do you have drip in your yard? How much time do you spend fiddling with that each week?  Can you imagine doing that on a hundred acres?’ Usually at that point I get some head nodding. Drip irrigation is great, but it is not a magic wand. It is expensive to install and it is labor and management intensive.

            For the record, nothing I do in my life is above question. I appreciate the concern people have about where their food comes from and how it is produced. I want you to be confident that the food and fiber we sell is safe.

            I could not believe, my last year as Fresno Farm Bureau president how many politicians, journalists, regulators and academics said, “If you can’t follow these rules and produce we will just import our food.” Really? What makes you think foreign producers are going to be any better, or more committed to safe food production? We have already seen what happens. Do you remember? It wasn’t too long ago we had issues with tainted dog food and milk products from China.

            I have written before about the Social Contract. I teach ethics. In its simplest form the social contract asks- What does society expect of the individual? And, what does the individual as of society? I have been in meetings where people start saying what they want from farmers in terms of environmental regs and other things. Twice I have stopped that conversation and explained the social contract. Then I ask them- So, you want us to pay the workers a living wage? Yes, yes- gotta pay the workers. And, you want me to save water? Yes, yes- gotta save water. And finally, you want me to use less pesticides? Yes, yes- pesticides are bad. Then I tell them, that is fine. California farmers will be glad to do what you want, but we have one request. You have said what you want from California farmers, that is only half of the social contract. We have an expectation also- please buy food from us, instead of our foreign competitors just because it is cheaper. The room usually drops dead quiet when I do that. It is a fundamentally broken contract if society has expectations of us as individual farmers, but does not live up to its own expectations. Fair enough?

            The smart-alecky part of me wants to say, “If you think you can do this better, my ranch is for sale. You come and take a stab at doing this and see how complicated it is. If a pediatric anesthesiologist thinks it’s too complicated, maybe it is too complicated. The more reasoned part of me understands your concerns. I am proud of what I do because I know we produce the safest, most, varied and most affordable food supply in the history of the world. My fellow farmers and I will continue to hold up our half of the social contract, all we ask is you hold up your half.