A carpet of corn covers a field behind our house in central Minnesota.
In late spring, seeing new crops in fields and gardens, if you wait long enough it seems as if you can almost see the corn and soybeans sprouting from the soil. Nature doing what it always does, creating new growth to sustain our bodies in a reality apart from manmade politics, markets, and wars, but not the reality of weather.
So far this year our garden promises sweet corn, squash, tomatoes, snow peas, peppers, lettuce and pumpkins. This year that is taking on greater importance as we face rising grocery prices, expected to rise nearly 3 percent overall in the coming year.
Covid was the initial inflation culprit, followed by war and tariffs, and growing consolidation in the food industry that includes monopoly practices. I wrote about that in a MinnPost story June 2, “Spotlight on food prices shines light on monopoly forces in grocery industry.”
Along with saving money, enjoying fresh produce, fresh air and exercise, you could even say there is a spiritual reward with having a garden. A little plaque on the wall in my mother’s kitchen inspired her teenaged son to help out: “One is nearer God’s heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth.” The quote is attributed to Dorothy Frances Gurney from her poem, God’s Garden.
Just across the fenceline from our garden today, an 80-acre farm field is carpeted in small cornstalks. As they do each year, farmers plant crops in the hope of a good harvest and decent prices. For farmers, faith and hope are as important if not more so than fertilizer, good weather, and fair prices.
Metamodern metaphor
Farming might be a good metaphor to describe the Metamodern Era. You can be doubtful, even cynical, about markets, politics, monopoly forces, input costs, and equipment woes. Yet each year you have faith that nature will do its work, including good weather and hope for a good harvest. As one farmer said, “it’s not a crop until it’s in the bin.”
Years ago, when our family rented a farm site, one day I asked the farmer-landlord about that. I had a job in the city with a steady paycheck. I asked him what it felt like, each year to have his family’s entire livelihood dependent on the crops. He smiled, seeming almost embarrassed at the question, ‘well, it just does’, and that was that.
Last spring the weather did not cooperate. Heavy rains delayed planting. Our garden sits in a low spot and became so sodden that hardly anything grew. Last year in early September the soybean harvest stood several weeks off, with planting in some fields delayed due to the wet spring. In most years that would be an inconvenience. Last year it was different.
The farmer and county commissioner sitting across from me early last September at picnic for a local water quality organization was complaining, not about the weather, prices, high input costs, or equipment breakdowns. When he mentioned the tariffs on soybeans imposed on China, I was tempted to ask who he voted for the previous November.
The leader of the current federal administration is clueless about agriculture, or anything else west of the 74 and 75 degrees longitude (New York City and Mara Lago). This was clearly evident in the so-called news interview last weekend in an Iowa farm shed, a hokey setting with a John Deere tractor in the background. I hope every farmer in Iowa saw that, when he showed the poster comparing the length of the Washington Monument reflecting pool with the height of skyscrapers. That spectacle alone adds to hope that Iowa turns as blue as the reflecting pool’s paint.
A harvest of votes
In the 7th Congressional District (most of western Minnesota) where I live, along with the usual hope for a good crops and harvest, the character and practicality of farmers may be nudging many of them away from their current representative who votes lockstep with the administration and does not represent all constituents. With their help, may the harvest Nov. 2 lead toward a restoration of good government, rule of law, respect for all, and maybe even a new Farm Bill, overdue since 2018.
Living on a farm for a few years, and meeting many farmers in my previous work, I have gained much appreciation, respect, and better understanding of their lives and their work. Earlier this year I interviewed several for another MinnPost story: “For Minnesota farmers, it’s been a season of discontent.”
Farmers do not want bailouts; they want a fair market. Bailouts are politically motivated Band-Aids. “Trump bailout to again flow to the largest, wealthiest farms, leaving struggling farmers behind,” states a news release from the Environmental Working Group.
On the farmsite we raised a small flock of sheep. At the time wool received a price support. While not exactly a bailout, we received a small check from the USDA, which was trying to support domestic wool production. Critics of such subsidies point to the millions of dollars going to large farming operations, including absentee owners with big city addresses. Our wool check was less than $50. We lost money raising sheep, but they were well taken care of.
A fictional swine farm in Iowa is a major part of the setting for my novel, The Swineherd’s Angel. The background draws on many years of working with livestock producers about regulations involving manure management and water quality. While most didn’t really care for the regulations, they accepted their responsibility for stewardship of the land and water.
With that perspective you would think that they would appreciate similar attitudes of stewardship among their government leaders. In the past, conservative cultural and economic values have pushed many farmers toward the Republican Party.
Now, they are beginning to see through the cruel and cunning chaos that has characterized the administration many of them supported. Many are beginning to understand that it’s only practical to support candidates who are more credible, compassionate, and competent, those you can count on, like crops and gardens.
