Errr...Not Exactly

The Heritage Foundation (a very solid, conservative think-tank), makes this claim about American family farms:

Most Americans do not mind paying taxes to help those who are in need, and farm subsidies are typically defended as being necessary to help struggling family farmers. But while many farmers were poor when farm policy was created in the 1930s, farmers today are much wealthier. Today, the average farm reports a net worth of nearly $564,000 (double that of the average household) and an annual income of $64,347 (17 percent above the national average) despite the fact that the cost of living in rural areas is 10 percent to 40 percent lower than the national average. By no means a teetering industry, the failure rate for farms is just one-sixth the rate for non-farm businesses. (read the full report here)

I've gotta tell ya, I disagree with Heritage's interpretation of statistics. I come from a rural, farming community, and most family farmers are not wealthy. Many are doing okay, some are extremely poor and debt-ridden, and a few are wealthy. To explain the networth (a suspect figure considering farms vary widely in size and crop produced) I would say that much of that can be attributed to equipment which is very expensive. But, it's not as if farmers have the cash on hand to pay for this equipment. Instead they must take out loans and borrow against their homes and land. Plus, that net worth may also take into account land, and many farmers farm between 1,000 and 2,000 acres of land (you've got to to make any kind of living). Heritage claims this is double the average household, and I respond with a very caustic, "Ya Think!?" I guess one has to know a little bit about farming to not be surprised that a farmer's net worth would be almost double that of the average household.

The Heritage Foundation, rightly points out in other parts of their analysis that corporate farms receive most the farm subsidies. However, it seems when talking about this "thriving industry", they don't take into account the fact that corporate farms could inflate the financial statistics.

I'm a conservative who is in favor of farm subsidies--so long as they go to the family farmers and not the corporate farms. Family farmers are the life blood of rural communities and rural communities are the life blood of America. If family farms falter, we all do. The products produced by America's farmers are the safest, tastiest, and most plentiful in the world. And despite what eco-liberals say, they care for and love the land. Support the family farmer, support subsidies.

And there is a great Frontline documentary done on a farm family in Nebraska titled The Farmer's Wife. It chronicles the challenges faced by family farmers, and is probably the best documentary I have ever watched.