I Wish Every Politician Knew What Every Farmer Already Knows

   I am coming to the conclusion I do not like January. It's too foggy for a motorcycle ride and thanks to our friends in Sacramento and DC there is more an more paper work each year. (And, I will admit I am not even doing the heavy lifting on the paperwork. My father-in-law keeps the books and my mother-in-law does the payroll. She's got to do the 1099 forms this time of year.)
   But, there are new forms and reports to fill out every year. I'm fairly young, I'm educated and I was city raised and it still bugs me. I can only wonder what the old farmers are thinking each year when there is new paperwork.

In the Useful Work Department we finished pre-irrigating the first cotton field. The onion beds are getting worked and we finished pruning the orchard. You can get a lot done when the fields are fairly dry. We are also plugging away on projects in the shop.
   Next week we will get the ground behind my house ready to plant trees. 

I Wish Every Politician Knew What Every Farmer Already Knows

by Paul H. Betancourt

copyright April 2012

            I wish every politician knew what every farmer already knows.

        For starters, it’s easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt. That is why farmers are careful about every expense. We are not just cheap, we just like being out of debt, all the time.

        Second, Reality is a hard taskmaster. Farmers don’t succeed through wishful thinking or the latest theory. Farming is hard enough when we work hard, work smart and use all the experience we have earned the hard way. Feel good theories just make you go broke--- faster.

        Thirdly, successful farmers balance self-reliance and community. I can’t do everything on my own- so, I need community. I can’t always wait for the community- so, I learn to take care of myself. We are stronger, as a country, when we are a community of self-reliant producers than what Ayn Rand called “looters and moochers.”

         Finally, sooner or later you have to produce something- other than paperwork. Wealth is created by producing products or providing services. We are getting less and less of either from our government.

I sure wish every politician knew what every farmer already knows.

I hope you all have a great week.

P