Our use of free markets to price the value of commodities and economic resources that are absolutely exhausted when utilized, appears to me to be causing future generations of people to be destined to have grave shortages of such commodities and economic resources.

The free market pricing of finite, non-renewable, exhaustible economic resources appears to cause present people to have a tendency to squander these economic resources for relatively frivolous purpose to the detriment of future generations of people.

An example of this idea can be seen by examining the State of Indiana’s natural gas industry in the past. Years ago, when Indiana had plentiful natural gas resources, and free markets priced the natural gas at extremely cheap levels, people of Indiana liked to entertain themselves by setting fire to the natural gas well in order to enjoy watching fire shows late at night.

Our country’s present use of farmland has a similarity to Indiana’s past use of natural gas. Once farmland is claimed for development, it most likely can never be reclaimed for agricultural use again.

Our free market-driven desire to develop farmland for residential and commercial use is consequently an activity that exhausts available supplies of farmland permanently. Every parcel of farmland that is developed for residential or commercial use is farmland that no longer is available for use by future people again.

Farmland can therefore be seen to be a finite, non-renewable and exhaustible economic resource.

In addition, while the supply of farmland is steadily shrinking due to being continuously developed for residential and commercial use, the world population is continuously growing exponentially larger with the passing of time.

The current exponential growth characteristics of the world population likely will cause constantly growing demand for agricultural products even though the supply of farmland is steadily shrinking.

It is because of these reasons, the use of free markets to price farmland to be used for development, causes the farmland to be grossly undervalued. Farmland needs to be valued in a manner that allows future generations of people to have their economic interests protected.

This is why much higher prices should be paid by developers in order to allow a parcel of farmland to be developed for residential and commercial usage.
Joe Kinney
Danville, Ind.

Reader unhappy with Varvel cartoons

I am a long-time subscriber to Farm World, and its earlier name Farmweek, but I am becoming more and more turned off – if not actually insulted – by your continued inclusion of the very biased Indianapolis Star editorial cartoons.
Not all of your readers, if any, are of the ultra-rightwing, Obama-bashing rabble that these political cartoons pander to. If I want bias, I will watch Fox News.
Additionally, from the tone of Dave Blower Jr.’s Editor’s Notes in the March 16 issue, (Farm World writer finishes book about Peace Corp; subhead New Horoscope unlikely, page ##) he considers the now-defunct Horoscope to be entertainment, and “isn’t an essential item for our farmer-subscribers.”
Well, I feel that your biased editorial cartoons are not an essential item. It would behoove you to remember the voters elected President Obama, and the voters are also your subscribers.

Michael S. Cooper
Markleville, Ind.

Letter-writer tells lawmakers: Balance the budget

Balance the budget now.

Congress needs to look at a few numbers: Federal, state and local employees, 20 million; Food Stamp recipients, 44 million: U.S. retirees, 65 million. And to support all of them only 111 million income taxpayers.

It looks to me like too many of us are riding in the wagon and too few pulling the wagon. The only remedy is for us to change the number of people in the wagon. We owe it to our children.

Tell your congressman at 202-225-3121 to balance the budget now. Later may be too late.

Floyd Coates
Scottsburg, Ind.