The BIG Question: What is so important in Cairo, IL that we would sacrifice precious resources for?!

Agribusiness. Most land in Missouri has been privately owned for generations. The banks couldn't take them out but five years of financial devastation will. Agribusiness will be in there soon taking over the richest farmland on the continent.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


The "Greater good" is term very much rooted in a collective society, like socialism or communism. In America, the "Greater good" does not exist or shouldn't, rather the "stand by your neighbor and support those in need." is a motto we follow. The difference is in the "Greater good" the whole is put before the individual, in "Help thy neighbor" the individuals work to help the other individuals, which by consequence ACTUALLY helps the whole grow! Sometimes a machine is only as great as the sum of its parts, and that is how our society works. Letting Cairo go and starting anew on higher ground would have been a win win for both Illinois and Missouri. Missouri would not have lost its crops and farms, Illinois would have had an excellent reason for increased federal funding for what would have been a disaster area to rebuild a town and revive its people.

All roads lead to Rome and here all signs lead to greed. SOMEONE is making big bucks off of this, not just the state of Illinois....

reply to post by Witness2008


I am glad your are confirming what I thought, yes this is going to be a land grab among other things, I think farmers should start suing everything they can before they wait until is desperate among then and they will take any hand outs given to them.

You know this happen before in the hard land many years ago in an effort to kill the farming in the US and establish imports from south America.

The farmers affected by what the state did needs to organized and stay united.

reply to post by Witness2008


I think you're on to something. Here in California the way they force the farmers out is by rezoning the land, which then the farmer can't pay the taxes and is forced out .Although most of the land I see is going towards urbanization.The rest of it now seems to be held by new immigrants rather than the generations of families that once owned it.

The big land grab was back in the eighties when banks extended loans for equipment and seed only to raise interest and call in the loans. Big business made great gains during those years. Iowa suffered bad.

Missouri is a very independent bunch of folks, they won't stand by and watch their family land stolen from them. The water beneath Missouri is plentiful, land is inexpensive, and the top soil is the richest in the country. Monsanto wants it bad.

reply to post by onecynic


Those new immigrant farmers are buying Round-Up Ready seed. The older established farmers produce their own seed. This whole matter is to control food. Corporations can create scarcity or surplus.

Hey guys, thought I should post this link so you can see first hand what they have done to our farmland.

News Coverage of Southern MO floods

Its horrible...

reply to post by Mikemp44


Hey Mike...I am just devastated for you. I love my home State and all those that hack out a living there. I think it is important to keep this federal crime against you and others in the forefront of minds all over the country.

I see that the law suites are already being filed. Good luck.

reply to post by Witness2008


Thanks Witness, I appreciate you and everyone who is taking the time to see such blatant destruction at the hands of our own government for an unproven reason. Everyone I know in Missouri is fuming over this, it seems only the political hacks and agricultural heads are ok with this and are turning a blind eye to it. Plus Monsanto has a lot of pull up here, so I wouldn't be remotely surprised if they buy up much of this land...

reply to post by Mikemp44



I am praying that you all can hold out. You and others need to keep this in the news....go for St. Louis attention. I'm researching other similar land grabs, some have been mentioned here. If anyone can show a pattern of federal assault toward farmers, and then who moved in after those assaults for gain, something good may come out of this for all land owners.

Don’t want to type more on this subject but here is a link to the other thread - look at the videos of Cairo and the information in CityData...

Other Cairo Il Flooding Thread

Three counties worth of fertile and productive land is being put to the flood all for the sake of the race card and politics as usual in the US. You could bundle all the property in Cairo into a package land, buildings and goods and not make the price of one seasons yield from the 135K flooded acres.

Moreover - since this is now a manmade disaster the insurance companies are off the hook and the taxpayers will be sued by the farmers - neat way to save the negative PR of some poor people who contribute very little especially in proportion to what they take from the coffers. The "rich" farm and ranchers though...no one seems to care at all.

reply to post by Golf66


Those "rich" farmers feed us. The imbalance here is just breathtaking. I would interested in finding out what Missouri politician warms Monsanto's bed.

Originally posted by Witness2008
reply to post by Golf66

 

Those "rich" farmers feed us. The imbalance here is just breathtaking. I would interested in finding out what Missouri politician warms Monsanto's bed.

Yeah, I know right - I have 40 acres of my own and a small dairy operation. I am soo rich I have to take a mortgage every spring to pay to get the 20 acres of organic alfalfa and soy I put in and pay the insurance on it. If it fails so do I.

Oh and I don’t want to sound heartless but I hear it's a lot more socially acceptable to eat corn and wheat than poor people which is the only thing Cairo seems to produce...

reply to post by Golf66


Do you keep track of the legislative moves...specifically those pushed by agribusiness?

Is most of the rice grown in Missouri down near the bootheel?

reply to post by Golf66


Now now, lets not get personal here.

Cairo is a dead town, the people need a revival to improve their quality and outlook in life. Building a new town higher up would have done loads to accomplish this.

Also I saw the other guys response to your post in the other thread. Thought I would throw some numbers at him to see if he still thinks it was worth it.

I hate when people play the race card as a last resort, its nothing but a shining example of their inability to argue their point and accept they might be wrong. Sigh...

Originally posted by Witness2008Do you keep track of the legislative moves...specifically those pushed by agribusiness?

You know I do track it to a certain extent but I am pretty small and run under the radar so to speak as far as most regulations and legislation goes. I suppose I should care more but I have yet to have anything really affect me or my small operation negatively. About the only rule I regularly flaunt is the selling of raw milk to consumers. I have some people who just want it as nature intended (as we drink it here at my house and what I grew up on) so I always make sure to tell them it’s for animal use only and a wink.

Now in the fall I am picking up 100 acres fresh out of CRP – I intend to put more organic soy in come spring 2012. Last year I got 18.54 a bushel. I will be making a large investment in equipment and land if I succeed I will make the big time (for me I guess that means actually making money rather than breaking even...) but still according to many 100 acres is chump change.

As a retired military officer I just want something to pass on to my daughter that is tangible. I come from a family of humble beginnings – the first to even graduate high school let alone get a degree or be a professional at anything.

She seems to love the land as I do – who knows what she’ll want as she gets older. All I know is there is a place for her to put a house close but not too close and honest labor for her and a spouse that many would envy. Besides I need someone to take care of me in old age.

Originally posted by Mikemp44Cairo is a dead town, the people need a revival to improve their quality and outlook in life. Building a new town higher up would have done loads to accomplish this.

Indeed why rebuild it in the bottom – the place is dead as are 90% of all these little towns all over the Midwest. The town nearest me one can buy a 3 BR house in fairly decent shape for 30K or less. I have thought about buying them up; however, there is nowhere to work within 50-100 miles so they are not worth buying even for the rental income – who is going to rent them even for 300.00 a month?

Originally posted by Mikemp44Also I saw the other guys response to your post in the other thread. Thought I would throw some numbers at him to see if he still thinks it was worth it.

I hate when people play the race card as a last resort, its nothing but a shining example of their inability to argue their point and accept they might be wrong. Sigh...

Yeah, I bet he knows as much about agriculture as he does about race relations….

Anyway thanks for the support and for the record it has already started – let the legal carnage begin

I know that all POST cereal originates for the most part from St. Louis, Missouri but I only wonder how many other cereal brands as POST alone has many different cereals and this is now going to be seriously affected or so you would think.

reply to post by spydrbyte25


Yes POST is a major brand of production here, but so is Pevely and more so Purina. While Pevely is going to get hurt by the rising cost of cattle feed to the dairy cows, Purina is going to get hit hard. They buy their wheat, corn and rice all within state until supplies are too low and then they import from other states(which costs more). Now that they have lost a large source of these crops, watch their pet food and supplies go up in price.

What strikes me about this is the sheer blatant inefficiency of our government and it's complete and utter disconnection with the American people. Missouri laws are so old it is actually illegal to buy, sell or possess Margerine in the state (past in the 1900s to protect dairy farmers), even though we do anyway, it is still a valid law on the books and can be taken to court. I am completely serious about this. Also there is a law stating you must tie your horse at least 15 feet from the door of an establishment, also still on the books. *Queue Banjo*

However the issue here is that we A) Lost TONS of grade A produce, B) Bankrupted the farmers that were flooded, and not just 20% like I initially read, ALL OF THEM (Because insurance doesn't cover "man made" disasters) and C) Both the farmers and the state of Missouri will receive NO disaster relief from this. Thank GOD the farmers are banding together in huge lawsuits to save their own, but I fear it will take years and they will have lost everything by then. I know it is a long shot, but I am really hoping Monsanto steps in here and subsidizes the farmers with company projects while they are litigation so at least the farmers can make some money to live on.