A farmer's predicament in the face of drought

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Dean Oeltjen is an award-winning dairy farmer who resides and works with his wife, Anita, and their four children in Pope County, Minn. Dean agreed to be interviewed by Socialist Action and talk about the adversity he faces from the drought.

Socialist Action: What are some of the consequences you'll suffer on account of the drought?

Dean Oeltjen: We're experiencing decreased yields in potential harvests. We're The phenomenon known as the "greenhouse effect" has passed from the status of an obscure theory into the public spotlight. NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen states: "It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the 'greenhouse effect' is here."

Many scientists agree. They explain that the cause is directly related to the astronomical increase in the use of fossil fuels in the last century.

The waste products resulting from the industrialization of large areas of our world, coupled with the massive destruction of the earth's few remaining forests (which had acted as huge planetary air filters), have pushed our planet's ability to sustain atmospheric balance and purity beyond Convention (continued from page 1: “Democrats band together to deceive working people”)

Jesse Jackson because he promised jobs, justice, and peace will now be told to vote for Dukakis, who promises nothing and whose "economic miracle" in Massachusetts was based on cutbacks, layoffs, and a massive infusion of non-union labor.

Many who thought the Democratic Party was a political vehicle for "progressive" ideas will now have to be quiet and support a candidate who rejects "ideology" altogether and believes his best qualifications are based on "management skills."

All the workers and oppressed who catapulted Jackson into national prominence will now be expected to rationalize, be pragmatic, and convince themselves to vote for "the lesser evil" so they can stop the "bogey man," George Bush.

Malcolm X exposed this game 24 years earlier during the 1964 presidential race between Democrat Lyndon Johnson and Republican Barry Goldwater: "The shrewd capitalists, the shrewd imperialists, knew that the only way they could get people to vote for the fox [Johnson] would be if you showed them the wolf [Goldwater]. So they created this ghastly alternative." always uncertain as to how many animals we should ship to market. Just yesterday, we unloaded three semi-loads of hay, costing $135 a ton-adding up to $2800 per trailer-load.

We had to order hay from the Missouri River Valley and Canada. There is just no hay to be had around here. If the corn we have out in the fields doesn't get any higher, we'll have to import more.

S.A.: So who is going to benefit from this drought in the long run?

Oeltjen: Not us—we're on the paying end of this deal. The price of milk won't rise fast enough to cover the costs of what we've invested into importing feed we normally grow on our own. If anyone is going to benefit, it'll be the paper shuffler.

S.A.: You put in all the work, seven days a week, and it's the middleman who is going to benefit.

Oeltjen: Yeah, but isn't that how it's always been? My neighbor down the road sold 3000 bushels of oats this spring at It may not matter much to me whether or not they correct this "greenhouse effect," but what is going to happen to these guys? [Dean gestures toward his son Alan, who is listening to our conversation.] After all, they have to live here after we're gone.

S.A.: Do you feel the government is doing an adequate job of helping farmers through this drought?

Oeltjen: Well, they've allowed us to cut and bale grass from C.R.P. acres [i.e., land taken out of production and paid to stay unproductive by the government]. There is a catch though! You have to have access to these acres in order to benefit from them. We have no such acres in this area.

This story was put together by Phil Beckwith, Jake Cooper, and Brian Schwartz.