This is Farm Country

You know, the land across southern Minnesota and on down through Iowa has often been called the best farm land in America. This is beautiful and productive land in any case and I hope it is still producing healthy and wonderful food generations from now. Right now, however, our farmers need a farm bill that is stalled in Congress to get passed. Legislators are afraid to vote on it and farmers are danged angry.
by Charlie Leck

Republicans and the Department of Agriculture
It’s a fact that the Republicans don’t much like most of the departments of the federal government. You can count them, if you like, but we all know pretty much which one’s they are. Remember the extraordinary candidate’s debate when Governor Perry (Texas) mentioned that there were three departments of the federal government he’d close down, but then, red-faced, couldn’t remember what they were.

Some folks say he’d really like to close more departments than that, but three is as high as he can count. (That’s not nice, so I apologize for saying it!)

Perry was for closing down the Departments Commerce, Education and Environmental Protection. Geez!

There are other departments on other Republicans list. It seems that at one time or another they all get mentioned for close-downs, except, of course, the Department of Defense.

Why not? What good are any of them?

The Department of Energy

…Health and Human Services

…Homeland Security

…Housing and Urban Development

…the Interior

…Justice

…Labor

…State

…Transportation

…Treasury

…Veterans Affairs

Most often mentioned, after Energy, for closing down, is the Department of Agriculture. What good is it anyway? Beyond the few things listed below, what the heck does it do anyway?

…Inspection of Animal and Plant Health

…Food Safety and Inspection Services

…Grain Inspection …Stockyard Inspection, Meat Packer Inspection

…Forest Service

…Resources Conservation

…Federal Crop Insurance

…Rural Utilities Services

…Rural Development Services

…Nutrition and Food Services

It’s always an easy thing to say for these politicians. It’s pretty interesting to go to the web sites of the various departments of government and to take a look at all they do. The responsibilities of Agriculture, for instance, that I list above is just a fraction of all they do to protect farmers and consumers.

Right now, the Republicans have stalled action on a farm bill, which renews the budget of the Department of Agriculture. We're looking at a shut-down of this important department that is so important to farmers rely. Without passage of the bill, about 90 percent of the department’s work would cease. The Republicans don’t want to vote on it before the election because they don’t want those spending measures to be held against them when folks vote.

In fact, the current bill sucks, but some kind of funding measure needs to be passed. As the bill stands now, there would be deep cuts in the food stamp program and that would seriously impact the nation’s poor and would cause the states to begin creating individual and separate programs to, once again, pick up what the federal government can do so much more efficiently. Some of the more conservative states would simply do nothing and the hungry would have to figure things out for themselves. When a man has a hungry family he can’t feed, he often turns to desperate measures.

There are plenty of other services – designed mainly to assist the farmer – that would also be cut off. They include programs for minority farmers, farmers markets, organic agriculture development, wetland services and many, many more.

Democrats are lined up, ready to approve the bill if they can’t get it improved, but the fellows on the Republican side of the aisle are holding the legislation hostage so the Tea Party doesn’t get angry at them.

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Sam Can’t

Sam Thinks He Can
But He Can't!
by Charlie Leck

I have a little friend up the road. His name is Sam. His wife, like mine, is a horse person, so they have a small farm and a barn and life is supposed to be idyllic in those conditions; that is, to the people who don't know that manure needs to be forked out and spread; horses need to be fed 24-7-365 a couple times a day; feed and hay need to be stock-piled somewhere; water has to be provided even when the temperature dips way below zero; farriers and vets need to be regularly contacted; manes need to be pulled and groomed; and general affection and attention needs to be given to the horses or they will turn into banshees.

Some time ago, Sam started a blog that he called: "Sam Thinks He Can!" That is, as in "Sam thinks he can write and manage a blog." A few months ago I suggested he think about renaming it, so he changed it to Prairie Ponderings. I'm not going to give you a link to it because Sam hasn't posted anything in over two months. I have come to think that he can't. It's difficult to do much pondering when you are as busy as Sam is.

I keep a blog list active on my computer. It tells me about all the blogs I like to visit regularly, including when they were last updated. Most of them say something like "twenty minutes ago" or "1 day ago" or, at worst, "1 week ago." Sam's now says "over 2 months ago."

Now, I've been patient – especially so for an impatient man – but I've had to come to the conclusion that I have been trying so hard to avoid: Sam can't.

Sam is a very bright guy. He writes well. He's very creative and imaginative. He's just too damned busy! That's generally because he can't say no. I've asked Sam for quite a few favors. He's never come up with an excuse. "Sure!" That's what he always says. I think he says that to everyone. He has an active law practice. He's very involved in politics. He helps his wife around the farm. There just isn't time to write a blog.

For quite a few years, I used to help around the farm. What I discovered was that, no matter how much you did, there remained an unending list of things to do. I just had to say that I couldn't do it. I didn't marry to work a farm. I forked years worth of manure into spreaders and I cut thousands and thousands of acres of weeds and several thousand acres of grass and pasture. I loaded thousands of bales of hay on wagons and hauled them out to the pastures and paddocks, broke them in sections and threw them into hay-feeders for breakfast or dinner.

Then came the sheep. That was the end. My wife hired a farmer who can do in two hours what it took me a long, long day to do. He's a professional. So, he can do it. I can't.

For good or bad, however, I can blog. Sometimes there's good stuff here. Sometimes there's material that is very ego-driven. Sometimes its sentimental or maudlin. Sometimes there's crap! However, count on this: four or five or, sometimes, 7 times a week, you'll get something new. I do it because I love it and because I want to leave behind a record – something of a memoir – before I head out to the stars. And, I do it because I love each and every ridiculous moment I'm doing it – with all the same energy and enthusiasm that our farmer spends plowing, planting, harvesting, stacking, feeding, repairing and starting all over again. Every single day he's out before daylight, getting his tasks done. So am I.