I was talking to a couple of local farmers today about this drought. Old timers

[CoffeeCat]

63. Are you suggesting that this is the fault of the farmers?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you suggesting that the farmers who have
burnt up corn and damaged fields--in the middle of a severe drought and extended
100+ degree temperatures--would have flourishing green fields if only they had
worked harder before planting?

Because that's what it sounds like you are saying.

I believe you that the field you have right out your back door is doing fine. That's
great.

What I'm having trouble with is your implication that a damaged crop is the fault of the
farmer.

Trust me, I live in central Iowa--the epicenter of big, industrialized, big-ag farms. These
guys are professionals, and this is big business. The machinery pictured in your post is
all over our fields during planting--and traveling on the highways as well, during the spring!

The drought in this area is the worst in 50 years, according to our local news. That certainly
isn't the fault of the farmer.

I hope "blame the bad farmer" isn't some kind of new meme that people are going to start
spreading, in an attempt to bastardize and demonize those who need help. We saw this
during Katrina and in other natural disasters where FEMA was called in. The people who
were victimized were positioned as freeloaders and idiots. I truly hope that this
is NOT what is happening here.