“I call to order the meeting of the
Committee of the Department of Commerce. The purpose of the agenda today
is to assess the importance of agriculture in the state. Our job is to
determine which businesses should be included as part of agriculture.
Let’s start,” said the chairman.
“Well, obviously,” said the
Commissioner of Agriculture, “Any business that produces raw product,
animal or vegetable, is part of agriculture. Like milk. A dairy should
be included.”
“Agreed. How about cheese?”
“It’s made from milk.”
“Yes, but it’s a factory. It
only takes milk and converts it to cheese. Their payroll includes
truckers, lab techs, sales people and ad agency folks. Should truck
drivers and ad copywriters be part of agriculture?”
“Good question, but the cheese plant wouldn’t be in the community if the dairies weren’t nearby.”
“Okay. Let’s come back to that. How about grain elevators?”
“If the farmer stored his
grain on his farm it would definitely be farm income. If he stores it in
the Co-op elevator, it’s still his grain.”
“What if the grain is
freighted on a train to Minneapolis and loaded on a barge bound for
Irkutsk? Is that shipping still part of the ag economy?”
“Technically, yes.”
“So the tow boat pilot is merely a skilled farm hand?”
“Technically, yes.”
“We better come back to this.”
“Alright. The feedlot
business is definitely agriculture. We can all agree, So, let’s say any
cattle feeder who hedges his cattle on the Chicago Board of Trade. Is
his broker an agricultural worker?”
“Certainly. He’s directly involved in marketing a raw commodity.”
“What if the broker sells pork belly futures?”
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