GROW - Farm families find ways to make ends meet

  • by Jennifer Kneuss
  • March 14, 2013
  • 290
                        
Summary: Family farms face unique challenges. Economic conditions often dictate the necessity of working off the farm for one or both spouses. A portrait of today’s farm family may not look very different from that of one 50 years ago. But their circumstances are vastly different. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, although 88% of American farms are considered small family farms, with gross sales of $250,000 or less, the 12% large, non-family farms account for 84% of the US production value. In Feb. 2013, the USDA stated that ‘Given the broad USDA definition of a farm, many farms are not profitable even in the best farm income years. Despite high prices for many crops, 2012 was no exception, with median farm income projected to be -$2,799.’ In 2011, 60 percent of family farms had gross sales of less than $10,000, with the majority of their income provided by off-farm income or off-farm work by one or more family members was often necessary to meet expenses. Another 30% of farms had gross sales between $10,000 and $249,999. On average, small family farms had more of their income from off-farm income than actual farming, with off-farm jobs providing the majority of this income. So, does this mean that life on the farm does not provide enough money to live on? Much of that depends on the choices that farm families make in regard to their day to day standard of living. The type of home one lives in, the model vehicle driven, the choice of vacations and leisure activities – all of these figure in to the equation. Steve and Sonya Quillen and their children dairy farm along with Steve’s parents, his brother and his family. Steve is the Tuscarawas County Farm Bureau president, and so he hears a lot of input from other farm families both in his county and throughout the state. Quillen agrees that each family’s decisions about their lifestyle and how they look at debt can figure prominently when the choice is made about whether or not family members will work off-farm. Sonya works just a few hours a week at a local preschool, and Steve and the rest of the family work full-time on-farm. “99.9% of our income comes from on farm. We make do with what we have. We could live a pretty comfortable lifestyle if my wife worked full time off the farm,” noted Quillen. “That’s the choice we made. As far as feasibility, it’s how you want to make it work.” “Health insurance is a big challenge,” he admitted, but said that based on what he has observed, he feels his family has made the right choice. “There are a lot of people in agriculture where both work off farm, and they have kids, and they are rushing them back and forth to the babysitters. That makes a lot of stress. That’s not what we chose.” There are admittedly situations where one or both spouses must work off-farm. Economics, the availability of health insurance, and farm debt may all be incentives to do so. Pressure rises with the added time commitment of that choice, however, and farm experts recommend that farm families in this situation take steps to keep their relationships healthy.  Set aside some time every day, without exception, when you can talk with your spouse about the day, your family, and life in general.  Stay informed about what your children are doing. If it’s a particularly busy season, find a way to connect with your children in some way each day, even if only for a minute or two.  Share ideas on how to share the inside chores.  Talk about off-farm employment tension openly and honestly.


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