A Frightening Want Ad
Many people are searching the help wanted ads these days. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to tell you about one special ad.I saw a help wanted ad written by Denny Banister, assistant director of public affairs, Missouri Farm Bureau and I just had to relay to you. It read like this: Help wanted farmers. Applicants must have a lifetime of experience; be highly educated in agriculture; have a great deal of capital to invest; be willing to work dawn to dusk including weekends and holidays without any guaranteed salary; purchase their own health and medical plans as well as retirement plans without company compensation; and they must have patience to deal with a host of critics, who do not produce food themselves, but want to regulate the farmers who do. Banister goes on to write that farmers are frequently blamed for the high cost of the Farm Bill, but the vast majority of the cost of the legislation is for conservation programs and food stamps, not for keeping our farmers in the business of producing our food supply. Farmers are often criticized by self-proclaimed environmentalists - critics who claim to care more about the land, water, and animal life than farmers. It is the farmers, however, who actually do care for the land, water and animal life under their purview. Mr. Banister then relates few us qualify to respond to this fictitious help wanted ad and of those who do qualify few accept the job.