MOTIVATIONS

Motivators, Stressors, and DISTRESS

So many people ask, "why would they do that?"
When we speak about agricultural leases, we have to understand that motive is there to cheat. It isn't so great that every single farmer will cheat land owners out of fair deals, but the motive it there nonetheless.

Let's say that we are in the year 2004. Let's say that I am a farmer. I could be a fair farmer or I could be a cheat, the answer will make itself evident in each different situation.

So, back to 2004. I need to plant my crop on the land I lease from a tribal land owner (lot B-3). I will need some gas to run my machines to plant seeds. I will need seed. I will need money to pay labor to help me. I am running low on cash, money, credit; any means to pay for all of this.

What is a quick way to gain means to pay for all of this?

I can sell my futures. What are my futures? I promise to sell you ( a person with money to loan) my 2007 crop at $4.60 per bushel if you give me money now in 2004. So I sell you my crop that I will harvest in 2007 for $4.60 per bushel. Land owners are not involved in any of this.

Why would I do this? Well in a perfectly balanced market, it will never work. I guarantee that I will sell my 2007 harvest for at least $4.60 per bushel...now in 2004 You guarantee that you will pay at the most $4.60 per bushel right now in 2004, for a crop that hasn't grown yet in 2007. I am locked in, in a guaranteed price; guaranteed against poor crop prices. You are locked in; locked in at a guaranteed price that guarantees that you won't pay an outrageous price in 2007 if the price goes up. You release a check to me, I plant my 2004 crop.

How much do I sell and how much do you buy? Well on average, let's say I promise under this contract to sell you 6,000 bushels off of lot B-3 (or 60 bushels per acre; I have 100 acres [100*60=6,000]).

You pay me for $4.60 for each of the 6,000 bushels. $4.60 *6,000 = $27,600 dollars. I subtract my costs that I borrowed the money for and let's say I have $8,000 dollars left over.

Three years later it is now 2007. I promised you 6,000 bushels off of lot B-3, remember? Well April 2007 rolls around and my crop looks pretty good, and then without any warning, I wake up to a forecast for frost. Sure enough it frosts and ruins my crop. I wait it out; I do what I can with the crop I have left to help produce a good crop. End of the year rolls around and I am harvesting! I am trucking crops to elevators! I am counting bushels! I am dividing bushels by acres. I get 5,000 bushels. I have 100 acres under lot B-3. 5,000 / 100 = 50 bushels per acre. I go to the elevator and deposit my 5,000 bushels, and I let you know I deposited 5,000 bushels for you that we agreed to back in 2004.

You point at me and laugh; "You" you say as you point and laugh. "You" you repeat as you point at my farmer's overalls. You say, "Did you forget we agreed to 6,000 bushels? Ha ha! You big joker, you didn't forget! Let me know when you get 6,000 bushels in that elevator!"

And I do let you know when I get 6,000 bushels in that elevator...

Do I:
replace the frost damage by going out and buying bushels which now in 2007 are going for $10.45 per bushel? Do I sacrifice some crop from another field which I personally own? I would do that by telling the elevator to take some crop from lot A-1 (what the elevator knows my personal field crops as) and put it under lot B-3 (which is what the elevator calls the harvest on the land I am leasing)? What is the damage if I do tell them that? I just lost 1,000 bushels of my own crop. That cost me (1,000 * $10.45 =) $10,450 dollars. If I am an ethical man, I will sleep well the night I clear my debt like this. Remember I only had $8,000 dollars left over back in 2004, so that's probably gone by now in 2007.

Or Do I:
start pulling truck loads of crops from Lots D-7, E-89, G-104, and accounting for all of them under B-3? Why isn't lot A-1 contributing crops toward B-3?

"Why, silly A-1 is my field! All them other fields are leased lands and it's not like they're really losing money anyway, most of them work for the tribe ya big goofball. One truck load from their fields is not gonna hurt anybody. "

The ethical man would not sleep well knowing his friend just screwed not one but a bunch of land owners out of part of their profits from their crops. The less-than-ethical man would simply shrug it off and decide that this was the only way to make up for his loss.

HOW IT'S DONE:
You can't do this unethically without shuffling crops. It won't work if everything goes to the same place. You have to have a reserve-your own storage bin. And if you plan on doing this every year, you will need your own storage bin. Then you send what you want to the elevator for the land owners, and every 3rd truck load goes to your own personal storage bins. You also have to avoid leases that require all of the land owners crop to go to a licensed elevator. If there is a lease that requires that, you chance it and send an approximate amount to your personal storage bins because BIA doesn't fund enough to staff a complete lease compliance department so, you're probably going to get away with it anyway.

And if you're really good, then you negotiate with the land owners for a cash rent that is outrageously low, and then you really don't have to account for any total crop harvested on their land. You are only responsible for paying a mere pittance and doing what you want with the crops. If you are an unethical farmer, you will tell BIA that the land owner and yourself can't come to an agreement so, "in the interest of the land owners" BIA should sign your version of a cash rent lease or a 1/4, 3/4 crop share lease because even a little bit of profit for the tribal land owners is better than none at all...right? And then because it's legal, you offer all kinds of incentives to the high interest shareholders, who may be low income residents with a need for cash in hand. You prey on the weakness of the ones who need money the most.

Motivators=influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior or Perceived Probability of Success (Expectancy)
[An all-too-willing BIA superintendent signing papers for "you" buddy is a sure perception of a probability of success]
Stressors=an external event that may be neutral, positive or negative which I have to handle according to Lazarus and Folkman.
Distress=an event that I do not have the resources or skills to handle. Ahh!!! RESOURCES!

Learned Helplessness= According to Seligman, et al. Learned Helplessness occurs when a person perceives that their actions do not lead to the expected outcome. [We try to do something to fix or prevent an event and it doesn't work] This is not dissimilar to when BIA signs for less than beneficial leases, even though we argue that we don't want the leases.

So when a less-than-ethical farmer's need to meet a financial commitment on a grand scale is negative because they don't have the crop, they handle it by taking somebody else's resources.

We continually speak up to tell BIA, BLM, OST, FSA, EPA, and the Supreme Court how we are all suffering from negative results and we are met with retorts like "Why do you have to be so difficult, just sign the lease?" and "This is to protect the land owners from not getting ANY money!"

Hopefully even thinking about how this could all be possible will motivate you, the people, to continue to speak out; speak out for the first time; live up to the prayers of our ancestors who prayed for us to protect the land.

I'll see you at the harvest..."YOU!"