A laugh and a chill

One of the folks we follow on Twitter (@SmallFarming) posted a funny link to a video that flatters those of us who prefer the country rural life.  It's, well, ??you should just take a look for yourself.  The video is the laugh part...  and it's put out by an organization called Farm Credit.  So after I watched the video - I felt compelled to check them out - you know - the ubiquitous "About Us" link - here.

They explain their history and heritage at lending funds to farmers for nearly the last century.  OK - but then, as I always do, I crunched the numbers on their page for "today": MORE than $160 BILLION in loans to NEARLY 500 thousand borrowers...  Do the math - that's a debt liability average of $320,000 per farmer, rancher, rural utility, coop, etc.  GULP.

Let me be perfectly clear - I'm not suggesting that Farm Credit is bad - not even close - they are serving a HUGE need!  The chill left running up my spine is by the fact that this need exists so deeply and so direly.  The fact that the backbone of our food supply - and subsequently this country's sovereignty - is underwater with dollar amounts that should concern EVERYONE - that average of $320,000...  Housing already tanked...  and you need food with that shelter...  that's the chilling truth.

But enough gloom - let's watch that video again... (they disabled embedding - so you have to follow their link).