MPR: The Unstable Future of Minnesota Farmers

The Unstable Future of Minnesota Farmers
By Dan Gunderson
August 6, 1998

For hundreds of farmers in Northwestern Minnesota, harvest this fall will mean the difference between planting next year or going out of business. Mainstreet Radio visited a second generation farmer who is finding it's increasingly difficult to be optimistic about the future of farming.

THINGS ARE QUIET AROUND THE DUFAULT farmstead a few miles east of Crookston. The barley crop is in the bin and the wheat isn't quite ready.

The 20-year-old combines and trucks are ready to roll, and in the modest rambler the colicky baby is finally napping.

The quiet brings a chance to think about the harvest and what comes after. It's an uneasy time for Tim Dufault.

Dufault: Everybody's stomach has been in a knot and been on pins and needles waiting for harvest.

Tim Dufault purchased the family farm from his father about ten years ago. There have been few good years since then. First there was drought, then too much rain, then five years of crop disease meant mounting losses. The Dufault family debt is growing. Farm and family budgets are being trimmed to the bone.

Dufault: We haven't invested in the kids education or retirement. We've had to put that on hold. We watch the budget pretty tight, and whether it's the farm or personal, you're slowed down and just holding on until things can turn around a little bit.

As he contemplates ways to eke out a profit, Tim thinks about trading the life of a farmer for an eight-to-five job. He's always been his own boss, but he wonders if it's worth the struggle. Tim says as times get tougher, he feels a touch of envy when he sees friends who live in town prospering.

Dufault: They're buying the boats, the campers, the minivans, the vacations, and doing what they want and boy, that looks pretty good from my point of view - when we're scraping and not spending money on anything. The guys in town are living better. Why is that? I could be living in town, too, and having Saturday off, and golfing in the evening. What's that all about?

Tim Dufault isn't ready to give it all up yet. A couple good years and, well, who knows?

But this year won't be one of the catch-up years. The barley crop was diseased and will bring less than half the market price. The wheat crop is still a question mark.

In the wheat field a hundred feet from the house, Dufault carefully surveys the yellow heads for signs of disease. He plucks one and crushes it open in the palm of his hand, revealing the kernels inside.

Dufault: That one there is on the small side. See the white? That's from scab. If you peel it back, there's no kernel there.

This wheat crop may be close to average. Perhaps 45 bushels per acre, but that's about ten bushels short of covering the cost of growing the crop.

Tim Dufault says he still has hope things will improve. He says it's nice to see Washington paying attention to the farm troubles. Congress recently approved some disaster aid for farmers, but he's frustrated because long term solutions like crop insurance reform and international trade agreements that would shore up prices are not happening.

Dufault: We need some short term fixes, 'cause there are guys hurting, and we need cash out in the country, or they're gone. But we can't lose sight of the long-term, 'cause I know how politicians work. If we get a short term fix, they'll say, "I've done my job," and they get re-elected, and that's the last we'll hear from 'em.

Dufault says there's good reason farmers are frustrated with politicians. If he wrecked his pickup truck today, the insurance company would replace it. But if his crop is destroyed, crop insurance pays less than half of cost of planting it.

A government payment this year will help, but under the Freedom to Farm Act, those payments will end in a couple of years, meaning no protection from a bad year.

Dufault is sure a lot of his neighbors are in the same shape - some worse. He hears the usual grumbling at the elevator and the implement dealer, and he's noticed some farmers spending more time than usual at the liquor store or the coffee shop, but he says the mental strain isn't something that's talked about.

Default: We haven't had any noticeable cases I've come across. Maybe I'm not looking that hard. Maybe I'm turning a deaf ear, 'cause you don't want to know about problems.

Tim Dufault hopes to have his wheat crop harvested in a couple weeks. A better-than-expected crop could ease the tension; if crop disease is widespread, the knots in his stomach could twist a little tighter.

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