Be that as it may, chickens and rabbits have to eat, a vegetable garden takes time and money, and does not always produce! Canning also takes time and money. When you’re really up against it as many of us have been, time and money are rare commodities!

They separated in 2000, and later divorced.

> Where is the couple’s vegetable garden? Do they not have laying hens?

I’m watching it right now and that is something that I noticed too – that they didn’t have their own garden to grow their own vegetables.

We once tried farming and good grief it is hard work. But it did not take long for us to realize it was not for us.

So my husband and I, we know what sort of work is involved. And I can say these people really seem to be working against themselves. Don’t have time to weed the garden? What are the kids doing? Our three year old worked in the vegetable garden with us.

Canning is hard work, sweaty and tedious. Some nights I would be up until 1 am finishing up canning. I also worked a part time job.

But when you don’t have the money to buy food, you don’t have the money to buy food.

I know this family had many issues to get through, but some of the easier things to fix they seemed to not care about.

Sounds like such a simple solution, doesn’t it? And just how do you propose family farmers get out? Move to the city? And buy a home with what money? Get a job with what education/skills? Who should they sell their land to? Nobody is buying. Farming is known as a losing business, so who will get into it except maybe Hutterites? It’s awfully easy for people who have never been on a farm to spout off about how these dumb farmers should get out if they can’t make money.

Are you going to quit your job and abandon your paid off house (often the original house from the homestead) when you are half a million dollars in debt? You keep taking on more land because it is the only way to make money, but then you need more equipment, a hired hand or two, etc. Maybe you bought out your dad’s share of the farm because your parents wanted to retire and who else was going to take over the family business. Maybe you did this when prices were high and before land prices went down the toilet.

It’s easy to judge family farmers when you’ve never left the city. These people love the land. It is their living and they do their best to take good care of it. Consider if you really want these people to sell out to large corporate farms. Look what pig farms or feed lots have become.

[...] Personal Finance on Film: The Farmer’s Wife [...]

I can understand why someone who knows nothing about farming would ask this question. Others have definitely correctly stated that farming is somewhat of a calling and is in some people’s blood and that is certainly true.

However I think it is also important for people to know that many successful farmers have gone through tough times so the fact that a year or two or five might be hard does not indicate that a farm or farmer has truly “failed.” For some analogies, would being turned down once for one book mean that a writer should give up and stop writing? Should a runner stop running because he did not win his first race? Should someone stop interviewing for jobs after he did not get a job offer? The core problem is that farming IS by definition a tough business. Having a few tough years is NOT unexpected. I know my father’s plan was to scrimp and save with the idea being that someday the farm would be paid for and THEN he would be financially secure.

Unfortunately due to the land price crash of the late 70s/early 80s and low price of milk, he gave the farm back to the bank in 1985. This man had one of the best herds and one of his cows he sold was the highest producing Jersey in the state of Ohio. He and my mom were college educated and worked 12-16 hour days most days of the week. We also had our own garden, had our own eggs and ate our own beef, chicken and pork. I say this to stress the fact that farming is one of the few professions that you can be very good at and work very hard at and STILL fail. I think that is a very sad commentary. For all of the harsh comments about this couple, they are the ones growing crops which put food on others tables.

I have not seen the documentary but plan to now.

[...] Personal Finance on Film: The Farmer’s Wife This is an excellent review of a PBS Frontline documentary on the financial realities of a couple that lives in rural Nebraska. Many of the issues they face ring very true for me, and J.D. writes it up here very nicely and carefully. [...]

Four years of drought doesn’t help the vegetable garden, though. Some hardy plants with low water requirements would make it, but the stuff you usually plant in a garden like that wouldn’t have returned very much food.

I’m glad they made it through the drought, though.

[...] May 24th: Personal finance on film: The Farmer’s Wife [...]

[...] Struggle to survive in America mirrors immigrant struggle This article from Get Rich Slowly, written by “J.D.” reviews the Movie “The Farmers Wife“. A movie [...]

If a business isn’t profitable, the businessman has to get a different business, or sometimes a completely different job. Why should farming be any different? because the farmer really likes farming? I agree it *would be nice* if that was how reality worked, but we don’t always get to do what we want.

That being said, I think its amazing that these people finally did pull it together, and even better still, did it in the context of their dreams. But that simply is not feasible for everyone.

Finally, there is NO SHAME in being on food-bank, food stamps, WIC or any other social safety-net, and don’t let ANYBODY tell you any differently.

And its not really anybody’s business what these people are eating or drinking.

Those type of comments are particularly hitting me hard right now because I’m raising my own children on food-bank food right now. There are days that I don’t think I can go on emotionally…surely that is how those people often felt. And yet here you are, thinking they shouldn’t even spend 50 cents on a soda. Extend those people, and others like them, an ounce of grace.

Second, you don’t know what being a farmer is. Farmers belong to the soil. Farmers live the land. There is no other life for them. You will, quite simply, never understand.

None of us are perfect. We make choices. Some right, some self-defeating. But in the end, we are all just trying to make it through the day with as much happiness as we can with the physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and intellectual resources that we have.

Throw stones at your own house, please.

Kristina, farm subsidies are the biggest social program of all, and yet I bet the vast majority of farmers consider themselves conservative.

[...] JD over at Get Rich Slowly had an interesting post recently about a couple trying to make it by farming (featured in the TV special “The [...]

They write-up makes it sound like they went through 4 years of drought before the parents got non-farming jobs. That’s just incredibly head-in-the-sand and grossly financially irresponsible. You do what it takes to support your family. Period. They should have both had jobs from a week after their first inclination that farming might not work out in a given year. And they should keep those jobs while trying to get the farming successful over the next 4 years of drought. Yes, farmers work hard and I’d love to redirect government support from big business to true small family farms, but this does not mean you are entitled to attempt farming into financial ruin without doing other paid work.

I second the blogger’s comments about beer and soda while on a poverty budget. lame.

Lastly, I hate it when Republicans use social programs. I could be wrong, but from the posting I assume these people are against social welfare programs and other social safety net programs. I hate when people are politically against certain programs but then use them when they become in need. I hope that, at the least, they ended up changing how they vote as a result.

Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of “preferred customer” and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.”

I didn’t include this in the above review because I didn’t want to spoil anything for people who might watch this film. However, from the comments it’s clear that I should mention: In the end, the Buschkoetters are able to save the farm. They elements cooperate with them, and they get a great growing season and some bumper crops. They’re able to pay off their debts. They’re not flush by any means, but they’re no longer downtrodden either. The film ends on a note of hope, as the couple works together to paint their dilapidated house.

I mean, I would really love to travel the world righting wrongs as my job like Kain from Kung-Fu, but I know I can’t make a living doing that, so I work a 9-5. It would be nice if we could all do exactly what we loved to do, but sometimes its just not feasible.

That is not meant to diminish/oversimplify their struggle in any way, and I’m glad they are/were able to work doing what they love at least some part of the time, but at some point the reality of the situation, that through no lack of hard work on their part, they can’t really make a living for their family farming, should kick in, and they should cut their losses and pursue another career.

I think I’m going to buy the video or get it from Netflix.

My dad – the oldest of 5 – grew up on farm during the great depression, and he talks about not having shoes, no running water and an outhouse, and his mother giving birth at home with his father delivering.

Thanks for the fantastic review…

Keeping the farm because it was the husband’s “dream”, even while its taking the family down with it, is such a nebulous, selfish,pie-in-the-sky justification for jeapordizing the well-being of your family. When you have kids, you’re accepting the responsibility of taking care of them AS BEST YOU CAN. Your dream of owning a farm,or starting a business,or being a video game designer, or whatever it may be, should take a backseat if it is anathema to the success of your family as a whole.

Hearing this story makes me feel like these folks are fighting themselves. Heck, you can make $10 an hour as an assistant manager at several fast food chains…why work at something you hate for $7 !?!?

An excellent post JD. Thanks for sharing.