Disinformation about farming

I was reading an interesting thread over at Homesteading Today and thought it very well sums up what I feel is going on today

Disinformation : false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.
Merriam Webster dictionary

When we first bought our place here it came with cattle. The family who sold it to us had health issues that forced them to move to town and they were glad they didn't have to take their cows to the sale barn. They were members of The Cattlemen's association and recommended that we join. It had lots of perqs like free monthly dinners sponsored by various Ag businesses and free loaner equipment and access to field bulls when needed. We joined a couple of other groups and got our kids in 4-H and found ourselves flooded with magazines and catalogues and listening to various agribusiness speakers.

Before we decided to buy a farm we had done our homework and we had read a lot and we mainly wanted just to feed our family of 5 good healthy organic food. We found very quickly that all the information that was being shoveled our way was giving the same message over and over and it flew in the face of organic. Questions along the lines of anything vaguely green or organic either got us pitying looks, vapid looks or the party line explaining to us why that was nice for our garden if we really liked pitiful looking crops and extra work but to be farmers we needed piles and piles of their stuff. And oh the stuff to be had! The latest feeds, minerals, pesticides, herbicides, sprays, grass seeds, other seeds, on and on it went. And then of course there was all the shiny new equipment and stuff, stuff and more stuff.

Course then you had the agri lenders always happy to sort you out a loan for all that stuff. And everyone was happy to commiserate with all of the farmers on how the cost of farming was so high and the income so low and how terrible that all was. They lauded farmers to the high heavens because they were feeding the world and nobody understood how hard it was and what heroes farmers really are.

Well we tried for a while to keep asking questions and throwing out ideas and eventually we gave up and found some like minded people who understood us and could answer our questions and we found a pretty good sized thriving and growing community of organic farmers. A lot of them were kids who were passionate about farming and they were all starting small and building from there. They were making a decent living at it too.

On the other hand the conventional farmers were up to their eyeballs in debt with all that neato stuff and it finally hit us that the reality was there were people making one heck of a lot of money off of agriculture in America and it was sadly not those farmers. It was the people in agribusiness. All those people handing out those free magazines and bringing those monthly free dinners and mailing out butt loads of disinformation. They were making money hand over fist.

So here is my question for you: why do you believe what you believe about farming? Is it because you are bombarded by people all telling you the same things? Is it possible that they have an agenda? Maybe to have you put in all the blood, sweat and tears and come out poorer in the end so they can sit in their offices and rake in the bucks on your backs?

I hear the same things over and over again: No one can start in farming today unless they inherit land, it is just too expensive. Really? I can introduce you to 15 or 20 young farmers in my area who didn't inherit anything but they are making a good living off farming.

At the end of the year farmers will have spent more than they net in profits. Really? First why would you do that, that is insane? And second again I can introduce you to a lot of farmers who are pulling in way more than they spent.

Kellogg's makes $4 for a box of cornflakes and the farmer nets 4 cents on the corn. Seems to me if you really want to make money you need to start making cornflakes....

reminds me of The Pirate Radio Song by David Rovics. Here's a excerpt from that song:

This is how it started
It's not hard to understand
From coast to coast they're lying
At a CEO's command
From Nationalist Public Radio
CNN and ABC
Big Brother's spewing propaganda
From the Disinformation Ministry

I'll post the article I wrote about food and the like.. as soon as I locate it again. In the mean time, I welcome your thoughts and comments