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A comment on The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans. Parent comment

Re:The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than dou... by SomeAmerican on Wednesday December 06, 2017 @01:01PM (#15863266)
There is a more pressing reason that has pushed farmers to continually buy new equipment. Farm credit services pressures farmers into this practice.

When giving out a loan for operations, a farmer's ability to pay is heavily weighted on farmers having newer equipment. The excuse that I have heard for the bank to do this, is that the bank can't easily tell which farmers take better care of their equipment, thus favoring the newer equipment across the board.

The agents working directly with the farmers advocate for this, as there are internal incentives for making larger loans.

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Re:The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than dou... by joeframbach on Thursday December 07, 2017 @10:40AM (#15870965)
What kind of logic is that?? In my mind, those with the oldest equipment must necessarily be taking care of it, because if you don't take care of it then it won't survive long enough to be old.

But on the other hand, I see people driving antique beaters and doubt they have the capability or interest to manage any maintenance.

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