New York Times, April 2, 2000
As Life for Family Farmers Worsens, the Toughest Wither
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
TRYON, Neb. -- Walking across the prairie, stepping carefully around cow
pies, Mike Abel confesses that he has told his son and daughter not to
follow in his line of work.
He sounds
I find this post somewhat unusual. The paradigm of
agricultural poverty around here would not be ranchers but
grain farmers. Cattle prices are relatively good and
ranchers are on the whole much better off than straight
grain producers. Perhaps Nebraska has had specific problems
that impact on
In the US, the feed lots pretty much set the price for cattle. They are highly
concentrated. Farmers are suing them for price fixing, but have not won so far.
Al Krebs' Agbiz Examiner has covered this in detail.
Ken Hanly wrote:
I find this post somewhat unusual. The paradigm of
