Posts by slysurfer14

Samuel Scott54 said:The EU and America aren't going to let Spain break apart. I guess all this nonsense about referendums doesn't matter, whether they're legal or not. Spain isn't the former USA; it's actually one of the major players in Europe. The EU knows pretty well that if they let this happen, it might open the door for things to go south in Italy, Belgium, or even Switzerland—and I mean, Swiss people aren't stupid, but the EU just won't allow it.

Who even cares if there are two or three different countries in the Spanish region? It's all part of the EU anyway, which keeps grabbing more power from individual governments... I mean, Belgium hasn't really functioned as a single state for ages, Italy's always been split down the middle, and Switzerland runs on cantons... so basically, these places have been divided for a long time and only stay together because it works for them right now..

Kenneth Cruz67 said:Well, we aren't exactly the first ones to deal with this kind of thing. For instance, California essentially declared itself independent along with several others, which led Madrid to claim our referendum was totally illegal.

Well, yeah, it was...
I mean, it’s not like we weren't sending people off to the US Army back when fights were already breaking out all over America...
We didn't just declare independence because of some vote; it happened because every political group finally agreed on it...

James Phillips92 said:I wish them luck too. I just don't buy that they'll actually achieve anything through peaceful means.

There are protests happening in Madrid demanding the government resign because of how the police are acting...
People aren't exactly sheep...

Kenneth Cruz67 said:And honestly, I suppose that isn't even the only mistake made by the Mexican state government; there were quite a few others. Since the federal government didn't step in to protect the constitutional order of the USA, they basically became just as illegal and unconstitutional themselves, if you ask me.

Anyway, I feel like the whole situation within the USA was just incredibly messy, and I guess trying to draw any direct comparisons to California is a bit of an unfair task. Personally, I might be more inclined to draw a parallel between California and the Confederacy instead.

Typical. You guys don't know anything besides constantly comparing everything to the Middle East...
It’s not even close... There’s so much happening outside the Middle East that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on there.

Charles Fox10 said:What did they think would happen when they were banned from speaking Californian? They probably expected a heavy-handed crackdown from the police under Francis’s dictatorship. I honestly fear we might see these images of violence resurface in our own history quite soon.

It isn't looking good.

But man, they are playing this really smart...
There isn't a single video showing anyone fighting back against the cops...
That's gonna be a massive argument for them against the Government in Washington, D.C. ....
All in all, we're looking at a pretty wild future.

It’s kind of wild how Californians aren't really biting on those police provocations... I don't see any attacks on the cops...

Lisa Chase68 said:I'm with you on that.

Btw, people over in California are saying today that they'll be independent in just 48 hours—assuming they pull in the majority vote this Sunday.

Man, they’ve got everything lined up to make sure those 48 hours 😬
count.

It's not just that they're ready—they're already acting like it. Like, say, California already opened a bank account at a Chase branch in Washington, D.C....
Why in Washington, D.C., and who actually opened it? Maybe the embassy or someone else, I don't know, but the account is open...

James Phillips92 said:Like I said before—the lion's share of those subsidies went to Todorica and his crowd. That's why everyone else sees their output tanking; a lot of folks are just giving up on production entirely, especially in livestock.

The whole damn country used up 7% of the available funds from the agricultural budget, so maybe stop barking at the wrong month...

Jerry Martinez6 said:Look, I could probably write a whole book here, but if we stick to that shortsighted coastal mindset of just planting almonds, peaches, or mandarins, we aren't getting anywhere. Let me put it simply: industry and agriculture are the bedrock, but they are deeply layered. You have the land, the machinery, the seeds, the fertilizer, the raw yields—you feed the next link in the chain. You have meat processing, and I won't even bother listing the thirty other industries that exist solely because agriculture supports them. Everything else builds on top of that. A strong agricultural sector means a strong nation. You can't have a powerhouse state without solid agriculture, and you can't have solid agriculture without a powerful state. It’s a cycle of cause and effect, and honestly, it all boils down to this: this country is a total mess, and there's no point looking any further.

To get back to your post: what exactly are you feeding people with those almonds, man? And just because YOU are profitable, who actually cares? Who gives a damn if YOU are making money? Are you an American? Do you actually love America? Or do you just love your own profit? It’s the same question for the importers, the middlemen, the bulk buyers of foreign goods, and the free-market enthusiasts: do you actually care about America, or would you rather everything be part of Germany, Spain, or the Netherlands? What are you even doing here?

I read that three times and I still have no clue what you're even rambling about up there...
https://www.kroger.com/click/#!/product...a-300-g-k-plus

So, a pound of almonds $53, a pound of Wheat $0.33... I mean, seriously, who's going to go plant almonds when they see the price of wheat?
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.15731...2!8i6656?hl=us

This is a plantation. Zoom out and you'll see it's already a real operation that's actually bringing in money now...

Paul Gonzalez10 said:To be perfectly honest, I have NEVER eaten a high-quality watermelon from a supermarket. The stuff they stock in grocery stores is complete junk compared to the real deal—and let's be clear, not every local farmer grows the genuine article; in my neck of the woods, there are maybe ten growers, and perhaps only two or three of them actually produce the real thing. The rest are hit or miss... but a decent one will run you about 2-$1.00, whereas the supermarket variety is usually at least $0.67, making it a terrible value. I wouldn't buy it even if it were only 20 cents a pound.

Watermelons just don't grow like that around here, so don't let those locals pull a fast one on you...

Paul Gonzalez10 said:You're comparing apples to oranges here...

Let's look at it this way: suppose you sold some commodity—doesn't matter if it was wheat, corn, soy, tomatoes, cucumbers, almonds, squash, or carrots. You generated a revenue of 80 $167. Now, you also had expenses—let's say they hit 60 $0.00. Your actual profit is 20 $167, and then you still have to settle up with the IRS on that 20. Just try finding me a crop where you sink 80 $167 into it and walk away with 50 or 60 $0.00 in your pocket. It doesn't exist—at least not when you're looking at the long game. Even the guy who plants a hazelnut orchard is footing the bill for a dozen different things before he sees a single decent yield in year seven.

The tax isn't on that 20,500 because you aren't on a flat tax rate...
If you think someone hit the threshold for the flat tax when they actually have minimum profit, well, I guess they just weren't paying attention...

And this whole thing about investing? There isn't a single business in the world that makes money without you putting capital into it. If anyone thinks they can just start making bank in year two, they've clearly lost their way in the business world, and agriculture is no exception...

bluetinker54 said:Regarding all this talk about how agriculture is "collapsing," I was over at Walmart yesterday and saw red bell peppers from Spain priced at $0.67/kg.
I have a question for the economists out there: what on earth is the actual production cost if it makes sense to import them 1243 miles only to sell them at a price 3 to 5 times cheaper than what we grow locally?
Then there’s the Mexican grapes, which were going for $1.25. Since Mexico is a bit closer than Spain, the shipping should be cheaper, but honestly, the price is just too low—it looks more like the kind of price you'd see for wine grapes in September rather than table grapes.

Now this is a real gem. The price is "too low," but for whom exactly?
Peppers are hitting maybe 20 to 50 cents a pound because they're coming out of greenhouses right now, and since it's peak season, the market is just totally flooded with the same stuff...

rowdypilot19 said:That's just plain stupid—they give you a subsidy, and then you have to pay taxes on the subsidy itself. 🤦

Exactly. Seriously, go back and read the thread from the beginning, then look at those two really important points I mentioned.

After that, you wouldn't have written such a brainless post.

Anyway, I don't do tourism, nor have I ever. I'm not saying I won't, but in America? Definitely not.

Why would that be stupid? Someone gives you a few million dollars for a nice view and you don't pay tax. Honestly, what kind of fantasy world are you guys living in...
Everything under 80 $0.00 is tax-free, so someone with an average salary isn't even making that much a year, yet they still hit you with taxes every single time...

bluetinker54 said:The profit might be minimal, but you aren't putting up much capital upfront since you already own the technology and the heavy machinery.
Switching over to an entirely different crop requires specialized knowledge and a whole new set of equipment.

But honestly, tell me how much your friend who's struggling would actually have to invest if they wanted to make a living solely from that. Let's say they decided to go full-time in that specific industry.

I'm not talking about anyone specific, I just see someone who actually planned ahead while everyone else was busy planting olives, he was planting almonds.
God knows what he spent on saplings, irrigation, and all that, but from what I can see, the orchard is producing and I bet the profit is solid...

His ROI is probably way faster than if he’d stuck with olives, grapes, or just let the place turn into weeds...

Jerry Martinez6 said:You want to know what's weird? What's weird is that despite all this endless complaining, the Midwest isn't under siege, because apparently money is just growing on trees out there—it's just that Midwesterners are too lazy to go pick it up. That's the real mystery. Go back and actually read this thread from the beginning. If you want real profitability in farming, you have to play the long game for ten years, and it only takes one bad storm to reset your progress back to zero. So please, just get started, and maybe in ten years we can talk about how much cash you've actually made.

Look, if you set aside the subsidies, the political shifts, the idiots running the show, the corruption, the nepotism within import lobbies, the mess at Walmart, and the competition with those massive vineyards in Herzegovina, etc., etc.—just plant something. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care. Pick whatever you think will make a profit and go for it. Plant pineapples for all I care! 🤣
Just stop trying to act like you're smarter than everyone else. Especially now, when land and housing in the Midwest are practically dirt cheap—so cheap that nobody would even buy a shack there 😁 because, you know, there's always some other excuse 😉. If you live off the land, someone's always going to insult you for being a "hillbilly," but if you're out there hustling and cutting corners, then suddenly you aren't a hillbilly (yeah, right 😁). Hard work is a major deterrent to urbanites, and well, we're just built this way, I guess. It's a shame we pushed out all those hardworking folks from the region; they were real farmers. Something might have actually survived thanks to them, since we clearly aren't interested in that kind of life. But hey, we certainly know better than anyone else! If only everyone else knew what we know...

Just keep hustling! 🤣

I don't know what you're talking about, I was already seeing a profit by my second year...
that's why you analyze the market first, figure out what works, instead of just staring over your fence and copying the neighbor...
For example, my cousin lives near Zadar, and after the war, everyone jumped into olives except for one guy everyone mocked because he planted almonds.
Those olive guys haven't even seen their first harvest yet, but this guy is harvesting almonds like crazy and making a killing...

bluetinker54 said:And you’re really out here claiming they're selling stuff at Kroger for 160 😉

Or is it actually four times cheaper than that?

I don't have a clue, maybe he's just selling to $60 tourists down at the Zadar market...
I sell what $17 Kroger sells for 30, and honestly, customers even come to my house instead of me having to go to the market...

bluetinker54 said:Look, I’m no lawyer, but do you honestly think he can just take ten separate plots of land and somehow merge them into one single parcel while they're under a lease?
I mean, honestly, those 70 parcels are probably just merged into a few larger plots; I highly doubt there are actually 70 individual, disconnected pieces of land scattered around. But even if that's the case, you still have the massive headache of dealing with all the paperwork for 70 different lots...

I mean, at the end of the day, you can't just force a merger if the owner isn't interested in selling. It's pretty much impossible to consolidate things if they aren't willing to part with the property.

And honestly, that’s exactly why we shouldn't have property taxes, right? Let some countries pay nothing while weeds take over everything—personally, I wouldn't mind if the ragweed grows everywhere (works for me)

bluetinker54 said:slysurfer14

I was actually thinking about table grapes in $1.25 retail markets—if that's what they're selling, what on earth is their production cost? I mean, where is the profit margin in all this?

Even the price for bell peppers seems suspiciously low. Honestly, I have no idea what they’re paying for labor, but just the cost of refrigerated transport from Spain alone is at least $0.30 per kilo.

Seriously, if you can find me peppers for 50 cents 🙂
, let me know.
If you're asking who benefits from prices being this cheap, it certainly isn't the consumer; it’s definitely not the small local farmer. Someone paying $0.67/kg for peppers isn't even going to bother picking them—they'll just leave them to rot in the field.

Honestly, I don't give a damn about some small farmer who'd rather toss his crop than sell it... Just like those roadside stands selling "homegrown" watermelons for $1.75 a pound when they're practically free at the grocery store.$0.67...Who cares, let 'em rot...

rowdypilot19 said:So, basically, the incentives aren't taxed, while everything else is.

I mean, that seems fine to me... I don't really get what people find weird about that?

Actually, non-subsidies are still taxable, which is why so many Family Farms have frozen accounts—money hits the bank and nobody bothers to pay the tax bill...
Like this year, if some local official hands out $15,000 and people just grab it without thinking, once that cash hits the account, you're automatically flagged as a small business owner. Once you hit about 88 $0.00, you're on the hook.
But hey, that's what happens when the people running farms still think their grandfathers knew everything better than everyone else...

Paul Gonzalez10 said:And who exactly told you that’s tax-free?
You're completely misinformed. If your income hits 80 $167, it's absolutely taxable—income isn't the same thing as take-home pay. On that 80 $0.00 in total revenue, if you're left with 20 $0.00, well, good luck with that. And then, on that 20,000, you're paying a 12.5% tax... If you had a turnover $26833 of 80,000, then maybe you wouldn't pay, but with only 80 $0.00 in turnover, try surviving on 20 $0.00 a year if that's your primary business... If it's not your main activity, then that pay counts toward your income, so you'll be paying taxes regardless.

Look, obviously we're talking about revenue. How much of that is actually profit is a whole different story...
With Wheat, the profit is tiny, but with other crops it's way higher—something our local farmers just don't seem to get...