BUSTER…

you are sounding just a wee bit paranoid..and i think we may disagree on what a government “subsidy” is and in this case when it kicked in…all i know is that Cecil defended various farm subsidy, no tax payments, payment for not growing, etc., as long as i can remember….there are many forms of “subsidy”..when the farm actually was passed from father to son , i am not sure i ever knew, so how much subsidy was actually taken by Cecil and how much by son, i am not sure..i was making much more of a point about hard working Americans who might have benefited from government breaks…no sin……obviously i was not going into any great detail in this piece, mostly tongue in cheek humor and yes i was totally honoring Cecil a man of convictions…i do not have to agree with political points of view to honor someone…and since my grandparents were also Iowa farmers and my parents raised on a family farm , i am not going to blast them in any vitriolic way…however, i can and do disagree philosophically on some points, most of our values are most likely the same…it is however my right as a citizen and as a family member to question some positions…in this case, i was not questioning anything, i was just pointing out an irony between what you believe about government and how in fact government has given you a hand albeit not nearly enough..

all i am saying overall is that while i do think farmers in this country deserve all the help they can get, many also tend to ignore others in society who also deserve all the help they can get ……as a full blown U.S. taxpayer with zero government aid, i have a right to say this…i have been around farmers all over America and all over the world, and while American farmers grumble a lot, they have for the most part in Iowa led very good and secure lives as have you and your family…Cecil’s family farm is now as it always was…a 100% family owned farm…and while some family farms have indeed been lost, yours was not…and while Iowa farmers are indeed an important part of this country, there are other citizens as well who make worthwhile contributions and there are other citizens who are not farmers who have lost their jobs and have suffered…few citizens of this country can claim a straight sense of security as have you for your entire life..sure you work hard, but lots of people work hard and lose their incomes anyway……so, please look at the big picture, no pun intended….and know that i place great value on you and your fine family of upstanding Iowan/Americans..i said so, and i meant it…

cheers, david

His thinking on this subject (and it could be practically any other) is typical of someone who is not directly involved. He really means nothing bad but does not appreciate how it makes you feel as you are directly involved and know the facts.

What with all of the publicity being given lately in the farm press about farmers' perception by the non farming public, maybe we farmers are having a somewhat heightened sensitivity about govt involvement. But I still cringe every time I hear/read about how the CRP program is paying farmers to not plant. It's as if all farmers everywhere are being paid to do nothing. But the "phrase" was written poorly one time and now every story about it contains the poorly written "phrase" as a "fact". But I suppose it is human nature to see the "bad" in anything. Rather than the "good"-the conserving of soil and environment.

BTW I had never heard of Burn magazine.