"Soft COLLECTIVISM"

Colonel’s Blog, Earthdate 6 September, 2024…

Hey Y’all!

Good evening and happy Fast-Jet Friday from Air2Ground Farms! The fast jet today is the Mighty-Mighty F-15E refueling in air, taking JP-8 fuel from a tanker (I decided to show something other than flying low in Wales ;-) ). The weather turned cool with breezes out of the north. While the relief is amazing, the air is very dry and the pastures are getting crispy and the grass isn’t growing. The other pics are one of our piglets, growing quickly! And a hawk looking for a free meal of beef chicken. The farm is doing very well. I want to keep this section short because I have what I consider important thoughts to discuss in the second section. Please take a few minutes to read.

There’s a subtle but significant shift happening in farming that many aren’t noticing—what I’m calling soft collectivism. Traditionally, collectivism meant the government seized control of farms and forced production quotas. But today, it’s different. It’s not about land seizures; it’s about economic dependence. Here’s why this matters:

1. Off-Farm Income Reliance:

Right now, 90% of U.S. farmers need off-farm jobs to survive. This reliance weakens their independence and forces them to seek supplemental income from other sources. This is where government programs step in. Through a web of subsidies, grants, and food assistance programs, farmers increasingly find themselves relying on federal aid to make ends meet. It’s not a blatant takeover like past collectivism, but a slow erosion of autonomy. The farmers maintain their land, but their ability to control their own destiny is slipping away.

2. Government Programs Dictating Prices:

Programs like SNAP, Farm to School, and Seniors Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) help small farmers access markets, which sounds great—until you realize that these markets are controlled by government pricing. Farmers participating in these programs have to sell at rates dictated by the government, not by the free market. While these programs provide crucial revenue, they also bind farmers to government-set terms. In effect, farmers are becoming dependent on government buyers instead of competing in open markets. Farmers may have land in their name, but increasingly, they’re producing food at a government-set wage.

3. Subsidies and Dependency:

The Farm Bill continues to pour money into food programs, with 76% of its spending dedicated to programs like SNAP. Local farmers are being incentivized to participate in these programs. Farm to School programs allow small farms to sell to local schools, while grants like those from LAMP (Local Agriculture Market Program) offer incentives for farmers to sell directly to local institutions. While this boosts local economies and helps farmers, it increases reliance on government contracts. Farmers are becoming more like government contractors than independent operators.

4. Import/Export Distortion:

Meanwhile, the food import/export deficit distorts the real cost of food in the U.S. The country imports billions of dollars in food annually, often from countries where food is produced more cheaply due to lower standards and government subsidies. These cheaper imports flood the market, putting pressure on U.S. farmers to lower their prices to compete. This disconnect between the real cost of locally produced, sustainable food and the artificially low prices of imports creates a situation where small farmers cannot survive without government aid. The illusion of affordable food is maintained by cheap imports, masking the true costs of production and leading farmers to turn to subsidies for survival.

5. Soft Collectivism: Farmers Working for the Government:

Farmers aren’t outright employees of the state, but with this growing reliance on subsidies, they’re losing autonomy. Instead of making independent decisions about pricing, markets, and production, they’re working within a government-defined system. This resembles what I’m calling soft collectivism. It’s not a hard takeover—land remains privately owned—but the terms of farming are increasingly set by the government. Farmers are producing for government programs, at government-defined prices, which erodes their independence.

6. History's Warning:

Historically, we’ve seen collectivism devastate agricultural systems. In the Soviet Union and Maoist China, government-mandated collectivism led to massive food shortages and famines where literally millions of people starved to death. While we’re not seeing the same heavy-handed tactics today, the result of soft collectivism could be a similar loss of food sovereignty. By tying small farmers to government aid, we risk losing the resilient, local food systems that are crucial in times of crisis.

Here at Air2Ground Farms, we’re fighting to remain independent. We don’t want to play this game of soft collectivism. We’re committed to farming on our terms—providing real food to our community without relying on government subsidies. But this shift is real, and it’s something every farmer and consumer needs to watch closely.

Cheers!

Psycho & Shelley