Here’s one take:
“Russ Mauch, Mooreton, N.D., past president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, says it is no great mystery why the urban public has a complete lack of understanding of the life and challenges of a farmer.
“It can be summed up in two words,” he says. “Magnitude and risk.
When the urban public hears about soaring grain prices, or the amount of money an acre of farmland might be worth, or news reports about the gross revenue that a given farmer expects after a successful harvest, “they automatically think that, given the numbers they’re hearing, we’re all filthy rich,” he says. “But that’s very often far from the truth.”
“Most people are not accustomed to hearing about expenses and bills in the size that farmers see on a daily basis,” he says.
Mauch, who farms 8,000 acres of corn, soybeans and sugarbeets, says his fertilizer bill for this year was $800,000; his crop insurance was close to $200,000 and his diesel fuel will be over $400,000 for the year.”
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