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Offering hope?

While waiting in the check-out line at the farm supply store just down the street from my office earlier this week, I thumbed through one of those nostalgia cards that review national and world news, sports, famous births and other highlights as well as the price index for a particular year. I selected the card with information about 1962, the year I was born.

In 1962, Johnny Carson hosted his first “Tonight Show,” Jackie Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Soviet Union attempted to move offensive nuclear missiles into Cuba, the first Wal-Mart store opened, and Illinois farmers were paid $2.38 for a bushel of soybeans.

In 1962 the average cost for a new house was $12,550. You would pay $2,924 for a new car and the gas you put in it was 28 cents per gallon. Illinois farmers were paid $1.12 for a bushel of corn.

A friend of mine who farms near St. Joseph, Missouri, recently purchased a brand new combine. “I paid $230,000 for this combine,” he said. “I get paid $2 for a bushel of number two yellow corn. I remember when I paid $15,000 for a combine and at the time, I was getting paid $2 for a bushel of number two yellow corn.”

In 1962 tuition to Harvard University was $1,520. Room and board, tuition and books for an in-state freshman ag engineer major at the University of Illinois will run you over $22,000 today. I will not suggest that every student graduating from a university believes they’ll make $35 – $40,000 per year in their first job, but many do believe that and some do make that kind of money in an entry-level position with an ag company. Ag engineering majors might have opportunities for some higher-paying jobs, but they might also require an extra year or two of school.

Why would you even consider going back to the farm, even if you have the luxury of walking into an operation where the land is already paid for and the equipment is in good condition and paid for as well? Input costs aren’t getting any cheaper, my friends.

As I stood at the pump, filling my car with gas this morning, I almost did a little happy dance when I saw the price of unleaded had dropped to $2.69 a gallon. It almost reached $3.00 a month ago and had been hovering around $2.89 for the past few weeks. I know, many of you are paying a lot more than that for fuel, but remember, I live in Missouri now and our fuel has always been less expensive, right? While living in Illinois and working for Brownfield, I would make the trip to Jefferson City every couple of months. I remember paying 77cents for a gallon of unleaded in Mexico, Missouri on one of those trips in 1999.

So now that I’ve got some of you riled up and others, like me, depressed about the cost vs. income in the business of farming today, I suppose this is where I’m supposed to offer hope. A light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

Hold on, I’m working on it. . .

I have an idea. Now that state fairs are over and summer recess is coming to an end, lawmakers will be heading back to Washington, D.C. Maybe they can help! I know their plates are full. So much left over from sessions past. There are important issues to address first, like a bill in the House to make federal slaughter of abandoned and unwanted horses illegal. The whole immigration thing will have to be re-addressed. And, of course, there is always the possibility that Congress will be writing National Animal ID legislation. . .