“Show Me the Money”

I have been working in some aspect of rural now since I graduated college in 2000 as well as the years I spent working on the farm. I was born in 1977 and began seriously working helping my farm family in a variety of ways when I was six. I have never not been around, or living on, a farm. For what it’s worth, I know a little bit about farmers and farming. 

I attended public school. Both my dad and stepmom were teachers. My grandmother was a teacher. I have written about all of that before. It was made very clear to all of us kids that school was our ticket to a better future.

Now let’s get to the phrase I used as the title of this article, “Show me the money.”

As of late, in my business endeavors trying to bring new ag ideas forward, I hear one phrase from a certain echelon of farmers more than anything else. Look, I get it. Money is needed to live. But within a split second of explaining a new ag practice or concept, it’s tunnel vision dollar signs immediately front and center. With not a second to spare, they’re like, “Well, show me the money.”

What they mean by this is, “What you’re saying only matters if there’s money immediately attached. Otherwise it’s going to be business as usual around here on the farm.”

Those who don’t say that phrase have reached a mindset that I believe is attainable for nearly all farmers, an advanced and higher-thinking level that opens them up for greater opportunities. I am going to call this group of farmers who aren’t the “show me the money” group, “the eager learners.”

Now for the photo included with this story. If you drive through rural America, this abandoned school house in this particular town, is not the only one you will see. You will see them in just about every small town. 

These buildings were the ones that went up after the first school houses built across the nation’s rural landscape were torn down. No doubt, back when these schools were built some people thought things would never change. But, change they did. 

Drive around a little further, or just follow the game schedule for say your rural junior high school volleyball team, and you will visit even bigger versions of buildings where everyone heads to school. 

Consolidated schools became the future in farm country. Not unlike consolidated “farmer-owned” cooperatives. I will never forget when I interviewed a new coop CEO about his position. I asked him what his greatest skillsets were. He said, “I am good at mergers and acquisitions.”

So goes farms, so goes schools, and so goes coops. And so goes billboards in my area of the country, York County Neb., where another coop had this blatant, in your face message up in lights, “Using your equity to build our future.”

Well okay then, got it. At least we all know what’s going on. Because they are constantly telling us and showing us what their intentions are and we go right along with it, because, I mean that’s the bright future of ag right? Right. 

Members of the “show me the money” crowd of farmers will also claim they are the primary reasons schools still exist. They will lament that their property taxes are too high. They are the reason these kids have so much. They say they didn’t get that much … (and so on, and so on). 

But how well is all of this going? By “this” I mean life on the farm and life at the school. The following are a few stories I know about real educators in our local communities. 

Why does a school speech pathologist I know have more than 100 meetings after school a year with no end or breather in sight? Why do so many students need speech pathology services? They truly do too and the reasons are layers deep. 

Why do go-getter ag instructors have 33,000 emails in their inbox and upwards of 500 texts daily to answer and are running on fumes to meet state FFA deadlines that never end? 

Why did my stepmom when I was growing up have stacks of IEP (Individualized Education Plans) paperwork that she filled out late into the evening many nights? It was miserable. This while my dad worked on accounting books for the farm and I took care of kids, the house, and more. 

None of these individuals is or was making six figures and a corporate bonus at the end of the year like I saw when I worked at a global seed company selling way overpriced seed to many members of the “show me the money” farmer crowd. But yet many of these educators’ schedules are rivaling and actually far exceeding many of the global corporate CEOs I have run across during my career. 

Some of these global CEOs knew “yellow number two corn,” but couldn’t construct a single eloquent speech of any depth without someone writing it for them. In my case in the professional ag world, that someone was lowly farm girl me who just happened to pursue a career in communications because my teacher parents said education was the only way out.

They weren’t wrong. But speaking now from decades of frontline experience with both education and ag business, I (along with many others) can eyes wide open tell you, both education and agriculture are sorely out of balance. Because, well, a great portion of both endeavors have been reduced down to that shallow phrase, “Show me the money.”

In other news, this time from Agri-Pulse Communications awhile back: “Food increases tied to labor shortages, new report finds.”

Here’s an excerpt from the article: 

“Farm labor shortages are increasing the price of ‘labor-intensive’ crops such as fruits and vegetables, says a new report from Grow it Here, a farmer-led advocacy group.”

“‘The U.S. fresh produce industry is approaching a pivotal moment,’ says the report prepared by Zach Rutledge, an agricultural policy professor at Michigan State. ‘Without meaningful labor-focused policy reforms, labor-intensive agricultural production will likely continue to face growing labor costs, narrowing the diversity of American agriculture and increasing vulnerability to supply chain shocks.’”

“Specifically, Rutledge found that when domestic farm employment declines by 10%, ‘labor-intensive food prices increase by an average of 2.94%.’ With those crops generating about $115 billion in farm-gate value annually, a 10% drop translates into an estimated $3.4 billion in additional costs to consumers.”

“New Jersey blueberry grower Brandon Raso said he lost 2.5 million pounds of fruit last season worth about $5 million because he didn’t have enough laborers.”

Real food rotting in some fields. In other fields, crops are being grown for fuel tanks. Other fields have no plan for who will take over their stewardship when the 80 year old dad who hasn’t allowed their 65 year old son make any substantial decisions dies. Other fields are growing nothing. Still other fields pump water like the wells are never going to go dry. 

Nearly every week I hear the phrase from at least one farmer, “Show me the money.”

All I am asking in return is: Can you show me the farmer who wants to learn how to grow food, and save the soil and water even better? Show me open minds and hearts. I see them, they are just not typically in that, “show me the money” right off the bat group. 

In the past, I have seen some farmers and their wives share on social media that they don’t need gardeners telling them how to run a farm. I would argue we most certainly need those master gardeners among us, relaying how food is grown and preserved. Interestingly enough, most of the world’s farms are small, with more than 80 percent of them under two hectares (about five acres). We have much to learn from farmers worldwide growing food in areas that some would think were merely too small to consider a “real farm.” What arrogance abounds. 

Also, as the story about farm labor shortages above indicates, the workers harvesting the actual food we eat are having their own share of challenges. These farm workers are not the ones asking me on a regular basis to, “show them the money.” They are just trying to survive in an inequitable world. 

I look at the picture of this school in this particular town. I consider the daily life and tireless commitments of educators I know. I think about the students. I think about those farmers I constantly hear say, “Show me the money.”

I remember my Grandma Ruth Heine talking about the early days. She was born in 1907 to give you context here. She spoke about how not everyone often got to attend school. Only certain members of farm families were able to go onto college. A sixth grade education, let alone a college education, was a great privilege.  

Grandma also had a massive garden along with her many books. She loved people and volunteering.  She loved mentoring and visiting. She had fun! All the things I love to do (except I need to work on my green thumb). 

Grandma demonstrated by her actions what is important in life. I am grateful for what she taught me through what she actually did. The future of agriculture needs readers and people who know we need to grow real food and save the soil and water. Learning can be fun. Implementation of new practices on farms can be profitable too! 

I am speaking to the, “Show me the money” crowd here. 

Show me the desire you have to want to learn. I will then show you pathways to income that protect and renew our land and water resources. I will show you ways you can have fewer fears and more hope in farming. 

The statement I have for the “show me the money crowd” is, “show me you can listen.” Because you’re not helping secure a better future if you don’t. 

Showing everyone more and more money hasn’t cut it. There’s more money flowing through some portions of agriculture than ever before. What we need is more learning and hearts coming together to help one another in the Heartland. 

I deeply understand it takes money to live. But, we can’t eat and drink all the money we love too much either. We can all do better. The mirror I look into every morning tells me that too. It’s telling me to show up and make a difference the best I can. Someday I will show the “show me the money crowd” the light. At least I won’t give up trying. 

Copyright© 2026 All Rights Reserved, Kerry Hoffschneider