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I spent last night with a couple of
friends who moved into a farm about a mile from us. They've got 10 acres, two
horses, 18 chickens, three geese, four ducks, six cats and four dogs...
In other words, we're right at home in
their house.
But what I want to talk to you about
is my friend Jenny's basement. As her husband Andy was making dinner, she
showed us her canning shelves. Rows of Queen Anne's Lace jelly, and pickled
kohlrabi, cucumbers, green beans, beets and onions, and tomatoes lined the
small fieldstone room.
The musty smell of a 100-year-old
basement was strong, a can't-miss reminder of how folks used to do things
before there was refrigeration.
We sampled some of the pickled veggies
-- and they were fantastic! My favorites were the
pickled green beans and the pickled tomatoes.
This is a skill that a lot of folks
have forgotten... but it's an important lesson in preparing for the future.
Too often we waste what we have when
times are good.
I'm not saying this from a moral
perspective. It just makes sense that if you've got a bountiful garden that
you preserve some of that for when times aren't so good.
That's because you never know what the
future will hold.
Take, for example, the Wisconsin State
Fair. It's an idyllic setting with cows and pigs dressed in their best bows.
The 4-H kids compete against each other for the best rabbit, and you can get
nearly anything fried on a stick...
But this year, on Aug. 5, gangs of men
attacked innocent bystanders on the fairgrounds, and even followed people out
into the parking lot and into the surrounding neighborhoods.
This "flash mob" took
fairgoers completely by surprise, and the accounts of some of the beatings
are horrific.
But this violence isn't completely
random. If you've been watching the news, you know what I mean.
The fairground flash mob was the
fourth act in a string of attacks. Flash mobs have struck in Philadelphia,
Cleveland and Chicago...
Being prepared for upheaval is an
important step in securing your future. Not only does this apply to your
physical health and well-being, but your financial future can benefit from
prudent planning.
Let's take this "flash mob"
scenario to the extreme... What if suddenly we had riots like London and
other U.K. cities have seen? It's not unheard of that these urban uprisings
can get out of control and disrupt much-needed services, like banks and
transportation.
Do you have extra cash stashed
somewhere to be able to buy some necessities like groceries or gasoline?
That's one of the reasons why I'm so interested
in learning how to can. I'm heading over to Jenny's house this afternoon to
help her can some more veggies. In the next few days, I'll be preparing part
of our land for a fall/winter garden. We'll be growing things like broccoli,
carrots, onions and cabbage. These can help supplement what we buy from the
store.
We're even considering goats to help
keep the lawn down and for milk and cheese.
Let me be honest with you. Over the
past couple months, the turmoil in the financial markets and the violence in
major cities put me on edge. I've been asking myself... How can I secure
reliable power? What do I need to do to create my own food supply? What
measures do I take to keep my family safe?
There's a 36.5-acre plot of mixed land
to the southwest of our farm that we're seriously considering snatching up by
any means possible.
Right now, land might be one of the
best defenses you can buy. You can grow food, put
up some wind turbines or solar panels, or even rent it out to farmers who
will pay you for the privilege of growing corn or hay or soybeans.
Two years ago, as the U.S. was
starting to emerge from the global financial crisis, Wisconsin farmland prices averaged 79% higher than
the national average... $3,750 versus $2,100. Pasture land rentals were
triple the national average.
In fact, farm real estate values climbed 8% in 2011
versus 2010 in Wisconsin. But that's not even the highest climb over the past
year. North Dakota values jumped 15.3% and Nebraska soared 17.1%.
Check this out, from the USDA:
 
This is the kind of real estate we should be investing in...
Look at the concentration of high
value growth across the Midwest. This highlights another way you can take
advantage of land values -- crops. Things like corn and other agricultural
grains. Land values are rising because of demand for these grains, and their
ever-increasing price.
Here's how wheat, corn and soybeans
have performed over the past year.
All three are up. Soybeans are up 30%,
wheat is up 59%, and corn is up only slightly after a big pullback in June.
Agricultural
ETFs like the PowerShares DB Agriculture
ETF (DBA:NYSE) and the iPath
DJ-UBS Grains ETN (JJG:NYSE)
give you great access to these commodities. If you can't get your hands
on 36+ acres of mixed land with a lovely creek running through it, these
financial investments might be the next best thing.
Sara Nunnally
Taipan Publishing Group
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