Foreclosures Are Forcing Farmers to Switch to Other Means of Livelihood
Foreclosures are not just content with evicting borrowers and collapsing lenders – it is now forcing farmers to switch to other means of livelihood. The truck drivers, police personnel, nurses and carpenters seen today were farmers yesterday – once full time engaged in agriculture.
More and more farmers are giving up their link with the soil as the agricultural sector of the economy is badly affected – the worst since the time of the Great Depression. There has been an increase in farm foreclosures forcing many to change their career. That too is not an easy task as off-farm jobs are hard to get in these days of economic gloom. Years of hard labour have taken a toll on the health of the farmers and acquiring skills and changing occupations is no child’s play.
One of the farm victims is Loren Gebhard of Platteville, Wisconsin. After toiling for many years in the barn and fields his back had suffered injuries. Today he is 50 years old. He was advised either to give up farming or spend the rest of his years being pushed around in a wheel chair. Gebhard frightened beyond words decided to quit and has now taken up the job of supervisor in a furniture shop. For him it was no easy changeover as the only work he knew from childhood was on the farm of his family. He happily toiled for hours being his own boss. He sighed and said, “It was nerve-racking for somebody who never wore a watch to all of a sudden become a clock-watcher in an off-farm job.” Although he misses the milking of the cows he has learnt to count his blessings and sees the positive aspect of a 9 to 5 employment. He does not mind anymore especially in winter.
The Wisconsin career-training programme helped Gebhard make the changeover. The programme had been titled Future Fields. The plan has got federal financial support and has been operating for the last 23 years. So far 2,500 farmers of Wisconsin have benefited. From June 2007 the programme has been discontinued with the stopping of the annual grants. The Wisconsin Agriculture Department is trying to bring it back in operation again. The timing is critical, as the economic gloom has led to a fall in farm prices and increase in farm foreclosures. Many families are facing bankruptcy and ruin.
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