Imagination
I would like for you to imagine being a farmer.
You set aside an acre of land that you would normally grow organic vegetables such as beans or carrots. You invest in some pricey seeds at $1.50 each to grow a specialty crop that is weighted with stigma. You will need 2200 seeds to plant that acre. Labor costs will be tremendous, equipment purchased may or may not be delivered in time for this specialty harvest. There are unknown regulatory issues that will most certainly continue to arise as you grow your crop since this is unknown territory for most banking establishments, farmers, regulatory inspectors and the government.
There will be questions about the legality of the crop by federal law standards even though the product is legal in this state. There will be fears as the required testing of the growing product may deem the whole crop to be destroyed. There will be no promise that a crop certified as legal days before a harvest does not test at illegal levels at the processing facility. And don’t forget the vastness of the unknowns about the eventual sale of your end product, if you will be fortunate enough to get to that stage of the crop cycle.
Would you be willing to grow or invest in a crop where the unknowns outweigh the probability of a fortunate outcome? For the purpose of this post, I was talking about hemp and hemp products specifically, but producers in every sector of the agriculture community are taking risks with their own eventual harvests.
Imagine you are a forest owner.
You purchase seed that you believe was the best possible seed for your climate, your elevation and your particular soil. You send your seed to a nursery where the seeds will grow into seedlings that are transplanted several times during their stay. Two years go by at the nursery before the plants can be shipped to the area to be planted during dormant season. Those plants then need to be taken into remote areas and planted correctly during breaks in the weather so the ground is not frozen, or blanketed with snow or going through a drought. A single person planting an acre, if not settling the roots correctly or tamping in the soil tightly, could damage the entire acre while the problem may not be apparent for a year when the roots dry out or 30 years later when the j-roots can no longer hold the tree firmly during storms.
The tender seedlings are susceptible to natural pressures of growing in the wild lands, and there is no guarantee that weather will be cooperate or if the climate will be stable. The for the next 40 to 100 years, the seedlings will face natural obstacles with decades of weather, forest creatures attacking the roots and the bark. Larger forest creatures may browse the limbs and damage the tops, the injuries on the tree may never correct through the years. Invasive species may move in and try to take over or an endangered species my lock the owner out. Disease may damage or destroy one tree then spreading to large areas before the problem is noticed.
If lucky enough to get the stand of seedlings to mature trees and they are harvested, there is no guarantee that there will be a mill available for that particular species or strain of the original seedling. There may be hidden defects or staining from root rot diseases. Even if the trees are in perfect condition in the forest, the tree could be damaged during the felling, the in-woods processing, when hauling to the mill, or at the mill itself. The finished product sitting in the mill may not have a market to sell to due to sudden worldwide market/commodity changes and international laws/embargoes/tariffs.
Would you be willing to put your livelihood on the line with so many unknowns?
This same story plays out for all those who work with agriculture and for the companies that invest in those stories. There are millions of unknowns as farmers, loggers, fishermen and ranchers of all sizes try to navigate through all of those unknowns.
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Your post reminds me of my relatives in Walla Walla. When I was a child, I would hear them grouse about all you mentioned, but they never left farming. In your next post, I hope you re-imagine the crops and the forest through the miracle of strong growth, re-birth and loving stewardship that gives the joy to the farmer/forester to rise above the negatives and embrace their love of their craft.
You have a good point. Gosh, I try to share my passion for the rural life with each story and hope that it comes across that way.
This story was a result of a tour that we had during the first session. The tour sparked a lot of discussion both in and away from the classroom. In Oregon, I am reminded of crops such as meadowfoam, canola and those hybrid poplar trees. Super crops, new technology, and advanced science techniques sparked the interest in the new crops. Millions of acres were planted and nurtured through the growing period. New methods were created to handle the harvest processing without a guarantee that the crop could produce an exceptional product or that there would be a market demand once it was harvested. The story is one that continues, ultimately we are the stewards, and individual crops are a small portion of the total majesty of the natural world.
When I came away from my tour, I asked a fellow classmate how a person or company could invest in either growing or processing hemp with all the unknowns and the classmate asked how I could possibly invest 100 years to grow a tree. My perception changed as did the perceptions of the classmate.