A SIDE TRIP WHILE GOING DOWN TOBACCO ROAD – BIG SKY COUNTRY
WHAT DOES MONTANA HAVE TO DO WITH TOBACCO?
Last week I made my annual trip to a Montana working ranch, Battle Creek, trying to be a cowboy. You would think that Big Sky Country is about as far as you can get from Tobacco Road. Not one stalk of tobacco is planted anywhere in that enormous state.
So, what is the connection? The life philosophy and work ethic of the people I meet there. Working on this ranch is the ideal “vacation” for me. The ranchers have the same independent spirit and devotion to hard work that my family and neighbors had sixty-five years ago, a spirit ingrained in people who work a farm or a ranch. And it is becoming a scarce commodity.
In 1790, 90% of the 4 million Americans farmed – nine farmers could produce food for only ten people. When I was born, 9% of the population (12.8 of 139 million people) worked on 6.8 million farms and ranches – one farmer could feed eleven people. Today there are 2 million farms and ranches and .8% (2.6 of 331.3 million people) work in agriculture – one farmer can feed 125 people. [i]
Food productivity has been a technological miracle, but at a cost - a shifting work ethic. A construction company owner told me that the quality of his new hires was directly proportional to how recently they left the farm. A young person who was raised on a farm works hard; two generations removed from the farm and that attitude diminishes.
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
Despite the hard work, some are still devoted to this way of life. If you asked a rancher why, he or she would probably say, “because I love it.” But the answer is more complex. Economists have long puzzled over people in agriculture who settle for a “sub-optimal” return on investment. But all returns can’t be measured in dollars, and their total return comes in several forms.
First, they are their own boss with minimum interference from outsiders. This sets them apart from most of us who sacrifice independence for the safety net of a working wage or an organization to back us up. When you’re a rancher in Montana, your workplace is twenty miles from the nearest help for anything. You are self-reliant and self-confident, or you would not be there.
Second, they build a special bond with family that most of us never can. I still picture the rancher and his beautiful little granddaughter. She will have priceless memories of her grandfather. She will know how he lived and how he worked. Officer workers - take your granddaughter to work and try to explain what you do that is so interesting and important. And the scenery from your office won’t look like the mountains in southwest Montana from horseback.
Finally, the real economic value is in the land, a store of value. But there’s a catch. This is a multi-generational deal, and ranchers who do most of the work don’t get to reap the big cash reward. It goes to the generation that decides they don’t like the work or the isolation. They sell the ranch and move to the city. And the loss of every ranch or farm chips away at our traditional American values.
America lost its true identity when more emphasis was placed on suits and a signature rather than overalls and a handshake.” Quote sent by Uncle Ken’s son, Phil Hoots.
WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU
Two final thoughts –
If Social Services saw that little girl on horseback, they would probably declare parental endangerment and negligence.
And government is making proposals that would force the sale of the family ranch or farm at the owner’s death. (More on this in a future post.)