Donn Teske
President, Kansas Farmers Union
Kansas City, KS
“We are not a commodity to be discarded when profits can bypass us and our contribution to society”
When asked to participate in the National Truth Commission I found it hard to comprehend what a forum on human rights in urban Ohio had to do with a red neck farmer from Kansas! What in the world can I contribute to this gathering to make it better? But I am very honored to have been asked here.
Farming in Kansas is alive and well. FARMERS in Kansas are an endangered species!! In my past profession of dairy farming; in 1965 there were 24,500 dairy farms in the state of Kansas! In 2005 there are now 900!!!!
Modern agricultural policy in America has turned the American farmer into a vanishing segment of America's roots! Last year was the first time in American history that we were a net importer of our food supply. We now buy more of our food supply than we sell, and I blame a significant part of that trend on the move to corporate, or what I call, INDUSTRIAL, agriculture!
A farmer is an amazingly talented profession. They operate a vast assortment of machinery and mange many of earth's animals yet now we are expendable! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics farmers and ranchers are the most threatened profession in America! The Bureau projects that between now and 2014 there will be a loss of 155,000 farmers! That is more than DOUBLE the ENTIRE farm population of Kansas!
What does that mean to human rights in agriculture? A lot! The farmer is a talented, extremely proud, entity. He has traditionally paid little attention to a set work day, he does what needs to be done when it needs to be done, and it has usually been for less than just compensation. Now we are told that we are no longer needed. Modern technology and "economy of scale" is dictating that fewer of us are needed in rural America.
As the farmer population is "thinned out" the fall-out is dramatic. Farmers, often past mid-life stage, are expected to learn another profession and then compete against others half their age for the same jobs. There is much depression; they feel a sense of failure to their ambitions, their family, and sometimes most of all, to their ancestors whose farm this generation cannot carry on! Suicides, or farm accidents are common during these weeding outs, alcoholism and other addictions rise, divorces rise.
In 1985, in the midst of a severe farm depression our local bank went bankrupt! Yes, our bank. In the process our farm was caught up in the mess and we ended up in court fighting for our operation! It took two bloody years to come back out of that mess and I blame the stress of that time for my fathers' premature diagnosis of Alzheimer's at 61 years of age and our families' subsequent responsibilities dealing with his affliction through the next 15 years! Yes, stress kills, and not always directly!
We are not a commodity to be discarded when profits can bypass us and our contribution to society! Farmers are human too!
Thank you for your attention and your time.