If...

[BA Deere]

Increased productivity ie doing more for less. Old money. Off farm income. More debt, even though the percentage of farm debt has went down  (buy a $1,000/a farm and have $500/a debt or 50% debt. That land goes to $5,000/a and all of a sudden you have only 10% debt at that time). In short, volume, volume, volume.

[BA Deere]

Dairy and Beef guys are generally honest......Horse guys??? Pfffttt  C.O.B. only (cash on the barrelhead)  A lot of those guys are deadbeats.  I own a horse but grow my own hay 

[BA Deere]

The local paper publishes teacher salaries once a year and average for fulltimers that I know personally and socially is $45k-$50k.  In 1980 a teacher could have bought 3,340 bushels of corn. In the summer of 2010 a teacher`s salary would have bought 15,600 bushels of corn. Right now at this very moment 2011 a teacher`s salary would buy 8,700 bushels of corn. A few years ago I did sell $1.45 corn and a teacher making $40k could have purchased 27,500 bushels!!!  Fertilizer back then was $100/ton and high priced seed corn $100/bag...check those prices today!

[kraft-t]

thinks that  everyone has to pay taxes on inflated values. If teachers made $20 K 20 years ago she paid taxes according to the tax code. If she makes $40K per year now she also pays according to the tax code. No one suggests she pay less taxes because her $40K income barely pays for inflation. You want what the teacher does not have. A $1000 acre inflated to $6000 and you want to exempt that gain..Her Inflated wage is taxed in total. Plus she get an additional 15% tax rate in SS and Fica taxes.

Currently, ypoui are fortunate to sell ypour farm land and pay 15% in capital gains taxes without the 15% SS and Fica taxes and you think you are abused.   You don't want to pay income taxes. You don't want to pay capital gains taxes and you don't want to pay estate taxes. You simply don't want to pay taxes at all. But you can still batch about a school teacher that you think is over paid.

Fortunate she is around and has a decent income to pay taxes on because she didn't pay taxes we would be a hundred trillion in debt waiting for you to pay something. Your disdain for working people is so obvious.

[Democratforlife]

The water is warm, that teacher can jump into farming at any time they want. If it is as you say, farming is so easy and gets all the breaks why are not all teachers farming now? Come on in and compete with us. I'm game.

[Canuck_2]

You are trying to compare apples and dinosaurs or something.

The value of 56 lbs of corn has little to do with the income when you compare over a time period.

Time has moved on for most. 

1 farmer now can produce many tonnes of corn more than 1 farmer could in the past. Partly from increased yields, partly from increased mechanization.

Comparing a salary to the price of a widget is not a comparison that means anything.

What is a BTO farmer's income now, calculated on an accrual basis not cash basis, for income tax. That would be a fair comparison and I suspect, if you used that, the teachers would complain that they have not kept up to farmers income.

[schnurrbart]

I guess to do it your way, we have to increase productivity for teachers.  A lot of places already are increasing it.  Used to be 25 students per teacher.  Maybe we should just increase the class size to 50-60 students.  Really make'em earn their money!  I know in my district in So. IL. our super makes about $85K and the teachers with 20-25 years and a Masters degree earn about $55K.

[BA Deere]

Hey Canuck, let`s say in 1980 a Teacher was making a okay living at $10k, teaching 25 students for 9 mo/yr driving 1 mile to work. His salary would buy 3400 bu of corn at the elevator.

Jump 30 years to 2010 and that Teacher is making $50k/yr teaching 25 students 9mo/yr driving 1 mile to work. His 2010 salary would buy 9,000 bushels or 5,600 bushels more than 1980.

Compare all that to a Farmer who in 1980 would save back a 3200bu government bin for his living expense. Let`s look what happens in 2010 if he kept that same 3200 bushels for his living expenses....He would only have $17,600 to live on.  To keep up with the Teacher he would need to nearly fill a 10,000 bin! Unless we go back 5 or 6 years ago with $1.45 corn, then he`d need almost (3) 10,000 bushel bins. Point being the Farmer couldn`t rest on his laurels and keep the same standard of living as the Teacher did. To get back to the jist of Hobby`s post, No a farmer shouldn`t be embarrassed having taken farm subsides when comparing how other salaries have beaten inflation 2 and 3 fold. Get it now? Of course you don`t, but I tried.     

[kraft-t]

It seems to me that if that teachers union is all that powerful, why aren't they all making $200 K per year? I mean that if  unions can force managment to come to terms why isn't the sky the limit?

I don't think that many of you even think rationally. You got the notion thaty you should earn more than most people and not pay taxes. Yet you expect others t0o work for less than they are making and the same time you want them top pay the taxes that you didn't.

What a silly argument! If the teachers salary only bought 2000 bushel would you be on a mission to raise their salaries? Your logic is simply amazing!

[Samnospam]

To throw some gas on this fire, teachers now have a smaller class size and more aides than they used to. In my kids school they also have reading and math specialist that help with the workload. So overall less work and more money. On the other side teachers are just about required to have a masters so they should be paid more, in some cities they should also get a war zone stipend and maybe qualify for veterans benefits.