Welcome to Farmersense.  This blog will be dedicated to the sharing of ideas about business, technology, government (or what is wrong with it) and economics.  So what is “farmersense”?  Let me explain.

I grew up on a farm; my father was a third generation Nebraska farmer. He started farming in about 1967 after spending several years in the Army, followed by a stint as a store manager for Goodyear.  Growing up on the farm in the late 70’s and 80’s was very difficult.  Those years are best described as the farm bust that followed a farm boon.  Bankruptcies were at an all-time high.  To make it through this difficult time took more than business sense, it took “farmersense”.

In the history of US agriculture, every farm boon has been followed by a farm bust.  To be successful, you must have a keen business sense, unwavering common sense, and desire to work hard.  When my father began farming in 1967, he was considered (by the local farmers) to be crazy for paying ~$350/acre for a farm, expensive at the time.  We have not been able to confirm, but believe the local farmers would sit in the bar and take bets how long my dad’s days as a farmer would last. I’d love to know what the over/under was.  I know they were all wrong.

In reality however, dad was very conservative and he followed a set of very common sense rules about farming, and life – what I now consider to be “farmersense”:

• Farmers (like any businessman) are in business to make money. If you can’t make money at it, then get out.
• Don’t borrow money for depreciable assets.  With the exception of some of the machinery he purchased in those early years, my father never borrowed a dime for an asset on the depreciation schedule, or personal assets for that matter such as a car or home improvement loan.  If he didn’t have the cash, he did not buy it, not even on a credit card.
• You won’t be successful if you spend more time on a bar stool, than on a tractor seat.  If you have extra time on your hands, find another job.  Dad did taxes for other farmers during the winter months for as long as I can remember.  He always had a winter job to make ends meet.
• Do it yourself.  We did everything ourselves, depended on no one.  Garden, fixed equipment, overhauled cars/trucks/tractors, ground feed for cattle, stored our own grain, milked a cow, burned wood for heat, chopped wood for wood burning stoves, hung cloths on the clothesline.  Anything to save a buck.
• Don’t spend a dime, until the crop is in the bin (I believe this to be the chickenless farmers version of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”).  We had two refrigerators in our house hold of seven. I remember when one of two refrigerators quit working.   I believe it was around the late July/August timeframe, and the crop in the field looked good.  Dad refused to buy a new one, until he knew that the crop was in the bin. You see, he had seen that very late hail storm, or very early heavy, wet snowfall ruin a crop.  I have seen those too, and they are heartbreaking, but that is the life of a farmer.
• The only one you can count on is yourself.  Words to live by.

I am no longer on the farm, because of “farmersense”; it simply was not an economically feasible option when I finished college.  But I have utilized my farmersense instincts in my business world and believe they are very transferable. The companies that employ these common sense rules do very well in their world (think Warren Buffett).  No government bailouts there.   And wouldn’t it be great if our government applied these common sense rules:

• The US is running trillion dollar budget deficits – we are only delaying that problem.
• Wealthy executives (as well as the President of the US) are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries and employees – this truly is a Congress problem, but is there incentive to fix this?
• 45% of households pay no federal income taxes – again, where is the incentive to change this when these households are voters?
• We live in a county who’s Government (may) require every citizen to prove
  they are insured…. but not everyone must prove they are a citizen – Really?
• We have a government that attempts to lower energy costs, and simultaneously wants to reduce energy consumption – maybe high energy costs will provide an incentive to find ways to lower consumption, or, God forbid, alternative energy.  Natural gas is a fraction of the cost of gasoline today, it is cleaner and the US has a bunch of it.

I am not against, or for more taxes.  I am not for or against tax distribution changes.  I am not for or against universal health care. I am simply saying that we seem to have lost touch with reality; we have lost the middle ground. It is almost as if our government leaders are working to preserve their jobs, not working for the better good of the country.  As successful farmers will tell you, good decisions are not easy or painless.  We need “farmersense” solutions,  our American way of life is at risk.  We need to set the bar higher, aspire to be better.  We need a goal of self-sufficiency.  We can no longer mortgage future of our unborn because we do not have the courage to fix these problems ourselves.

My father made a lot of decisions that were not easy, they were not painless, and they affected the lives of everyone in the family.  His example showed us that if you put our mind to it, work hard, have a goal and a plan to get there, you can overcome.

Oh, and that farm, it is still operational today, successful and self-sufficient because of the farmersense lifestyle.  And though I cannot confirm this, I believe those that bet against my dad in the 60’s and 70’s – today believe that he was pretty smart.

I hope you enjoy this journey, and welcome you to participate.

Dale Stara