tmrand - 10/31/2026 06:51

I've said repeated times..........for the 20 years I've been here, that I'm not for any of this govt assistance. But in trying to analyze the theory on why it's sent out..........it's not hard to figure out the rational. It's exactly like when they threw all the money into the Covid bail out fiasco. At times the govt just knows more money needs let loose into the economy. Sending it through the farmers benefits entire rural areas. Tractor and machinery dealerships, car and pickup dealerships, fuel and fertilizer stores, and everything in town gets a boost financially.

With that said.........I really do think the farm economy overall would be stronger if none of this intervention had ever taken place. Sure there'd probably be different operators at the helm. We'd be full of folks that can pull up their own boot straps.........and not just be waiting by the mailbox. But that's not the way it has shaken out. In all honesty.........you just can't compete on any serious level if you don't take the payments in an industry or area where the lion's share of folks are. Because the only way prices for everything we buy is as high as it is.........is because of this infusion of govt money. I'm certain that's true even more so in our marginal production country than in the better farming areas. But it's everywhere nonetheless.