As we argue over which of the software engineers in this thread knows more about farming, are we totally sure that statement isn't, at least in some sense, a joke?
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Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
261–270 of 309 posts
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's always interesting to hear from people who moved to Michigan because the better part of my adult life has been devoted to getting out of Michigan. It sounds like you have a peaceful life though
I grew up here and left as soon as I turned 18! After living all over the US and trying out different cities and locales returning to Michigan made the most sense. Buying a home in the SFBay area isn't feasible unless you're willing to work multiple jobs or sell your soul to FAANG. Want a house? Get ready to replace: The foundation, the roof, the sewer lateral, oh and the addition wasn't done with a permit so its not…
Michigan's housing prices vary pretty dramatically and we don't have a terribly low cost of living in parts -- especially real-estate. It's no SFBay, but it's rapidly getting worse.
You mentioned the 300,000 on 5 acres, and that's definitely possible, but you're not getting that in the desirable parts of Macomb or Oakland County[0], nor anywhere in Wayne outside of Detroit/Detroit-ish areas.
I watched a house on a busy city road (one where "pulling out of the driveway means an immediate traffic backup to the light" between 7-9 and 4-6 every day) which was 2,200 sq ft, 4 BR 2.0 BA, though it was new construction (relatively modern/upgraded interior) go for $550,000 in 2022 after multiple bids. The home I own (1800/3BR/1.5BA) which I purchased for $175,000 in 2001 and would have lost money had I sold it between 2007~2018, is worth about $330,000. This is partly due to the value increasing due to local changes and "what's happening everywhere in the country" housing prices-wise. I know folks who moved to Plymouth to a home with similar specs but paid a quarter million in 2017.
Cool. And because I didn't re-finance, I don't have a mortgage any longer. Except I want to upgrade. And had I done that in 2008, I could have afforded it. Now that upgrade is twice as much but my salary has not followed suit. My desire to upgrade went to near zero, already, once I paid it off. But now I couldn't even afford to if I wanted to. I figure I'll downgrade and move near the kids when they're older and take home some cash in the process.
One thing I love about where I live in Michigan, though ... it's rare that a house doesn't have a basement. Even in places you wouldn't expect -- our next-door neighbor on Lake Huron had a full basement with 12ft ceilings (and a hell of a system to keep it bone dry). And newer homes tend to have excellent ones you can make useful -- if not always up-to-code -- living/lab spaces out of. SFBay hacks in their garage. We hack in our basements.
[0] When people say they "Live in Detroit" that's probably where they live. Just like the Detroit Zoo.
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
That why I hate the word "farm" and derivatives like "farmer" and "farming". On one side is see land cultivators and on the other hand i see animal exploiters. The first do -IHMO- a great job akin to school teacher, the latter do a horrible job akin to a concentration camp commander. Having one word to describe both is beyond me. That said, I do find it amazing how these two groups stick together and back each other…
I think the terms "farmer" and "farm" are entirely appropriate, as the farms that traditionally sustained humanity absolutely required animals to provide labor, fertilize the soil, and consume what would otherwise be waste. This all looks like a "concentration camp" to vegans, because vegans enjoy their privileged beliefs. Veganism is a form of masochistic asceticism. But since I'm talking to a vegan interlocutor, th…
Most vegans are not militant and hateful as you describe, they are just the most visible ones. Most vegans live regular lives and are friendly to omnivores, and you'd only know they were vegan if you spent some time with them and encountered situations where food decisions were being made.
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has nothing to do with tech weenies. The enemies of the American farmer are: - declining reliability of seeds - increasing variation in climate - Ron DeSantis, according to Donald Trump
While those things are true, the real enemy of the American farmer is in fact the American mentality. Of which, one component is the incessant need to get high ROI on low effort projects. We're obsessed with it as culture. This website revolves around it. It's our social network that creates an environment where farmers aren't valued. We value web advertisements. Plain and simple. Look what jobs pay the most.
You're right; my parent post was off-topic, just the things my local farmers say they worry about.
I think the temptation of America's artisanal manufacturing and farming is to revive a strong relationship between hard work and value. Maybe you remember beginning in software to help people, but look back at too many sacrifices inflicted on nature and humanity just to game the extractive component of ROI. So, I agree with your philosophy, but I want to say that farmers themselves obsess about ROI. I'm sure you understand their long-term success relies on interfacing with competitive markets right up to physical delivery. I wouldn't call that an American mentality because it affects farmers around the world.
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#265Every time this topic comes up I say the same thing. If you've never worked on a farm and have some kind of romantic idea about it then you shouldn't do this. Farming is hard work. Modern farmers have college degrees, millions in equipment, and a vast amount of knowledge and experience you do not have. If you're thinking of doing this and do not have experience go work on a farm for a year before you buy in.
Sorry but this is not the case everywhere. Some countries subsidise their farmers because they correctly determine that this type of industrial farming you describe is terrible for the environment.
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
I got a whole village of 300 survivors for you
That's still survivorship bias. Figure out how those 300 survived and why an exponentially larger number of people didn't and you might have a solution for all the people who want to get into farming.
There are many reasons why people quit commercial farming, none of them apply to personal farms, and you seem to not consider what people lost to become urbanites
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's the two extremes of work. One is hard physical work directly associated with producing the things you need to stay alive, the other is purely intellectual work which is 20 levels of abstraction away from your necessities. > Farming is hard work. Modern farmers have college degrees, millions in equipment, and a vast amount of knowledge and experience you do not have. It depends on the scale, I know 80+ years old…
> I know 80+ years old people living in the countryside ... I do too, and not a single one of them is happy about it. Every person I talked to, starting from my grandparents, wants to move to a city where heating etc is taken care of for you, but in their age it's easier to continue doing what they've always been doing instead of enduring massive changes like that.
At least they grew in nature, mostly free of obesity and other modern diseases, the grass is always greener... I'll take that over breathing tire/brake dust and sitting 10 hours a day in front of a glass rectangle
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#268Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you grasp what a future is? Having home/car/health insurance protects you against it being destroyed. Buying fuel futures protects you against the price of gas spiking. Having crop insurance protects you against your crops being destroyed. Selling crop futures protect you against the price of your crops falling. It's all protecting you from events that would seriously hurt your finances, aka hedging/insurance.
> Selling crop futures protect you against the price of your crops falling. Price contracts are a thing. You can do this in new england with fuel oil for heating. It is fairly common. But futures pay today for a product at some later date. It's a loan as well. And as a producer it's not just a hedge on price. What happens if your expect to yield 140 bushels of corn an acre, and only get 130? Your crop came in, so no…
> Price contracts are a thing. You can do this in new england with fuel oil for heating. It is fairly common.
> But futures pay today for a product at some later date. It's a loan as well.
This does not compute. You say forward contracts are common but futures give you money today? Futures are standardised forward contracts, you don't get any money when you open them unless your futures are different than mine?
> And as a producer it's not just a hedge on price. What happens if your expect to yield 140 bushels of corn an acre, and only get 130? Your crop came in, so no insurance, how do you make up the missing bushels? You're buying those futures back or delivering the contract even at 10x the price.
Exactly right hence why I said 'some'? You hedge when you can to lock in e.g. aforementioned 30%.
> There is a reason that there are specialists in marketing and delivery of products with futures markets that help them plan.
Completely agree - but it isn't that complicated with futures. Now options...
Re: Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
#270Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve done both and I’d prefer farming I was a staff architect at a public company and started a trash cooperative this year I 1000% prefer making my neighbors better off than some idiot CEO and all the assholes on the board and investors
I would like to learn more about the trash cooperative. I’ve had a few ideas in the direction of collecting certain types of trash to recycle (eg: food waste, garden waste, paper/cardboard) due to a personal interest in composting and related topics. There’s certain stuff though that I have no idea how to recycle (yet). Would one negotiate with a larger waste management company for these items? Or simply offer it as…
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