The Farmers Wife

The Farmers Wife

In the documentary “The Farmers Wife” we meet Darrel and Juanita Buschkoetter. They are rural area farmers that live in Lawrence, Nebraska with their three daughters, Abby, Audrey and Whitney. The documentary shows the hardships on the couple and there family as they juggled the daily responsibilities of running the farm. Darrel and Juanita wear themselves out trying to make ends meet when there is not enough money. Some people in this world do not realize what farming entails. From waking up before dawn, doing back breaking work until dark , never having a holiday, and barely making ends meet some find it challenging and rewarding while some find it exhausting and relentless.

Darrel and Juanita are both able to find outside ways to try to make things better financially. Darrel found a full time job pushing steel, and Juanita found a part time job cleaning houses for wealthier people. Darrel doesn’t approve of Juanita going outside the house to find a job, but bills had to be paid. Both still had to find time to take care of the farm and the children, putting even more stress on there marriage. Over the past few decades, the decline of farmers and farm land has been intensified by the changing world economy. This affects the seed, gas, fertilizer, food processing, farm implement and energy monopolies. This tightening squeeze comes on top of the inflation, tax burden, war danger and other social problems facing not only farmers but all people working and struggling to feed, clothe, and provide a place to live for themselves. Family farmers are being forced out of business at an alarming rate. Every week farmers leave the land they worked so hard for, to take a second job in the city. As a result, there are now fewer farms in the U.S. than there were in the early 20th century. Of the remaining farms, only a few are family operations. As established family farms are shut down, they are not being replace by new farms and young farmers. Very few young people are becoming farmers today. Independent family farms also play a vital role in rural economies . In addition to providing jobs to local people, family farmers also help support small businesses by purchasing goods and services within their communities. When these farms shut down rural areas are left with high rates of unemployment and very little opportunity for economic growth.

The documentary showed the couples financial struggle primarily. Darrell made financial mistakes that put his family in even worse trouble. Darrel and Juanita try working with the bank to get a loan that can catch them up on their bills but they do not get the financial help they truly need. They struggle to pay bills and have endless problems with the bank. The bank starts to threaten with a liquidation where they could lose the entire farm and have to sell everything to pay off their debt. Problem farmers are running into is the fact that banks are unwilling to lend money to finance startup operations. This shows us how hard it is for farmers to receive credit, to keep the operation of a farm working. Without this credit, many farmers face the inevitable, that is, closing and selling their farmland. The decline of the family farm has been heralded for decades as a sign of the times, as growing numbers of people moved from the country to the city or to suburbs. You can get a factory or 8 to 5 job, make a good living with the potential of good benefits and still have (spare) time to be with and enjoy your spouse and family. In the farming business, there are huge cycles in prices, meaning just about the time you've caught up from a down cycle, another one comes along. This illustrates why young people are leaving the farm in search of better living conditions and a chance at a better economic future for their families. Both the farmers and