A farmer buys the land, prepares it for planting, plants the crops, tends them, harvests them, and feeds the community.
A builder buys the land, prepares it, creates the infrastructure, builds the homes, and provides shelter for the community.
Without the farmer, we would starve to death.
Without the builder, we would freeze to death—or, in the case of Florida, burn to death.
Both the farmer and the builder are required for us to survive, yet society is quick to vilify them both.
Think about the investment the farmer and builder make to feed and shelter us. For both, that investment is measured in the thousands and even millions of dollars, with only a prayer that they will make it back and put a little in their pocket.
I remember a time not so long ago when all you heard was “big sugar, big cotton, and big ag.” Then those complaining about the farmer realized their land was a reliable source of environmental resources. Now they love the farmer and rancher so much that they don’t want them to sell their land.
Today we celebrate the farmer and rancher. We ask our local governments to protect their land, but what we really want is to make sure they can never sell their land to development.
With a few exceptions, most farmland was (and in many cases still is) near the population. That makes sense—if you’re going to feed the people, you need to be close to the people.
Now put that into perspective. If the land the farmer uses is near the population and the population grows, where can it expand? Onto the farmland. If you owned a 100-acre farm on the edge of Plant City, Riverview, Celebration, Kissimmee, or any other high-growth area, the pressure to sell would be incredible.
Now look at the builder. Where do people want to live? Where is the builder going to build? The two work together, and the builder is under pressure to buy that farmland for new homes—because that is where the people live.
Until you figure out a way to place a dome over the state, people will move to Florida. They have been coming in droves since the 1920s. Heck, most likely the person reading this post is a recent Florida transplant. So now that you’ve got yours, no one else can have theirs?
Do you want to—and are you comfortable—living in tenement housing clustered in a downtown so packed that you can’t even walk your dog? If so, places like New York, LA, Chicago, Cuba, China, Russia, and many places in Europe offer it. You can move.
Remember how we used to complain about the farmer and rancher? We believed they were polluting the land until we realized their land benefited the environment. During that time, governments all over America instituted rules and regulations that almost forced many farmers and ranchers out of business.
Today, it’s the evil builder—or, as we once said about agriculture, “Big Builder”—that we have come to vilify. We go to zoning and commission meetings to stand against the next development. We are the NIMBYs. I wonder how many people did the same when the builder built the neighborhood you live in. Remember: you got yours, so no one else can have theirs.
The farmer plants the crops that feed the community and the builder builds the homes that house the community. Which one are you willing to give up?
Danny Kushmer
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