Why the Need for a Safety Net?

If you are involved in agriculture, you know it can be a very risky business. Just ask a farmer and they will tell you that they deal with risk every day. Unfortunately, not many people around the United States understand how risky farming really is and that agriculture is probably the riskiest industry around. Unfortunately, it is not just people around the United States thinking this, but there are also a few politicians in Washington, D.C. that don’t realize the risk farmers make every day.

As everyone knows, our country is currently facing a major debt crisis, and serious cuts need to be made. Farmers and ranchers realize that they need to be part of solving the debt crises and are willing to take cuts. However, how much can farmers and ranchers really give up? In a recent Farm Futures article, House Agricultural Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) nailed this question on the spot. He stated that while farmers and ranchers want to be part of the solution to our debt problem, they also can’t be the ones taking the majority of the cuts when they only receive less than one half of one percent of the federal budget. Representative Frank Lucas also stated that there needs to be a safety net for farmers and ranchers, especially when times may be rough.

So a person may ask why farmers and ranchers need a safety net, when other industries don’t always get safety nets. As I mentioned earlier, farmers and ranchers are involved in the riskiest industry in the U.S. and can go out of business very quickly. There are certain risks that farmers and ranchers take that they can’t necessarily control. Such risk includes markets, weather, and the cost of production. Today, the markets can be like riding a roller coaster and are almost unpredictable. Any event can cause prices in the market to go up or down, such as production numbers, world events, and yes, even the weather. The weather is probably the biggest risk agriculture faces because unfortunately, the weather can be unpredictable, even with the technology that we use today. A person just never knows if they will be lucky enough to have good weather, weather that brings their crops ideal amounts of moisture along with cooler temperatures. However, there are times when the weather can be a farmer’s worst nightmare by ruining their crop within minutes because of strong winds and the “white combine”, also known as hail. Lastly, farmers and ranchers are unable to control production costs. Now, that doesn’t give them the excuse to not budget and keep track of their expenses, but there are times when the cost of inputs exceeds what a farmer will actually make in return.

After looking at the uncontrollable risks that farmers take on every day, just so we can eat, it is easy to see why they need a safety net. As mentioned earlier, farmers and ranchers know they have to take some cuts as well to help solve our country’s debt problems. However, they also would like to have some type of fall back in place in case agriculture ever goes through a rough patch. Why shouldn’t there be a safety net for the people and families who produce our food? Without them, our plates would be empty.