Demise Of The American Farmer Reflects The Demise Of The Middle Class

Too much debt, poor capital allocation decisions (McMansions, expensive leased cars, spending to ‘keep up with the Jones’) and declining disposable income. It’s hitting the general middle class in America similarly to the way in which it is hitting the American family farmer.
The Wall Street Journal posted an article titled, ‘The Next American Farm Bust Is Upon Us’ earlier this past week. The bubble in farm land, just like the general real estate bubble, was precipitated by the Fed’s money printing and general easy money policies. The cover story was that the policy was directed at stimulating economic activity. But the actual result varies, with banks, corporations and ultra-wealth elitists benefiting to the detriment of the rest of the country.
A friend and colleague of mine who happens to be a wheat farmer shared with me his real life experience with trying to compete against the Monsanto-driven corporate farms in this country. He’s working to move the production of his farm from wheat to industrial hemp but will need legislative help in his State to accomplish this:
Where some farmers get in trouble is spending too much for new equipment, and/or not fertilizing enough (or at all)… and/or not being good farmers in general.

This post was published at Investment Research Dynamics on February 10, 2017.