Almond harvest is in full swing in our neighborhood, and way ahead of schedule. [You should have seen the look on the face of the lady in church when I asked a fellow almond grower, "How are you nuts?" But, that's another story.]
We are putting the last irrigation on the cotton. After Labor Day we will head in to the shop and get ready for cotton harvest.
A Truly Endangered
Species
By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright May 2013
I appreciate everyone’s concern for
endangered species. There is one vanishing breed that doesn’t get a lot of
press coverage. A hundred years ago the
range of this species’ covered the entire continental United States. This
adaptable critter could be found in the deserts of the Southwest and the
coastal plains of Florida and California. They were recorded in the foothills
of the Sierras and the Rockies all the way up into the Dakotas, Wyoming and
Montana. In the last century population has collapsed from sixty five percent
of its peak population to less than two percent. I am talking about the
American Farmer.
Yes, a hundred years ago sixty five
percent of the American population lived and worked on small farms all over the
country. Even here in farm country today less than one in three jobs is
connected with agriculture. There are fewer of us every day.
The irony is that the American
government is actively protecting dung beetles and other critters they consider
important, but it seems like the government is on an extermination program
regarding our farmers. Between cutting off water and piling on paperwork more
and more small farms are disappearing all the time. Normally a steep decline in a population would be a cause for concern. Ironically, the guys who are causing the problem in this case just keep pouring on the pressure.
***
We'll keep working hard to provide for our family and for yours.
I hope you all have a good week.
P
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