Farmers Insurance By John C. Tyler And Thomas E

Did Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, LabOne, and Dr. J. Alexander Lowden have a duty to inform Gary and Renna Pehle that they were HIV-positive?

American family farmers produced goods for the global economy; however, after 1870, the depression struck the nation, meaning that the produce families grew for the market and economy would be sold for at a lower price. A family who had contributed themselves to the nation’s economy would find themselves in an event of possibly, and most likely, losing their farm since at that time farming insurance wasn’t available. Ownership of farms were not secure or stable during this time of depression.

America’s agricultural economy had already been suffering for a decade when nature conspired against the country to exacerbate the Great Depression. From 1931 through 1939,

The new technology used in American agriculture made it overall more productive and widespread while creating mixed results for the farmers. The advancement in machines like reapers, threshers, and mowers to harvest grains produced contrasting outcomes. An obvious benefit was some of the ease brought to the farmers. The human labor involved in harvesting grain by hand with a scythe or by a simple, one horse-powered machine was far greater than harvesting with a big, multi-horse powered machine. The devices made work simpler, faster, and more efficient for the farmers by relying on animal energy and technology (Document D). With promises of larger crops with less exertion, the new machines became very desirable to farmers in order to stay in competition with their peers; however, buying these machines also pushed many of them into unfortunate financial situations. Not only was the actual

From 1880-1906, western farmers were affected by multiple issues that they saw as threats to their way of life. The main threats to the farmers were railroads, trusts, and the government, because these institutions all had the power to drastically affect the ability of the farmers to make profits. Therefore, the farmers were not wrong to feel frustration toward those institutions when the institutions caused the farmers to live lives of increasingly extreme poverty.

Pursuing this further, the rich soil of the West was becoming poor, and floods contributed to the problem, and, eventually caused erosion. Beginning in the summer of 1887, a series of droughts forced many people to abandon their farms and towns. As circumstances worsened, farmers were beginning to be controlled by corporations and processors. The farmers were at the mercy of many trusts, which, in turn, could control the productivity and raise prices to high levels. Furthermore, during the late 19th century, many farmers considered monopolies, trusts, railroads, and money shortages as evident threats to their lifestyle. The rise of these monopolies and trusts worried many farmers because they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would harm consumers. Oftentimes, these “robber barons” would prevent competitors from reaching the markets by restricting their ability to transport their goods. In Document E, James B. Weaver wrote of the main weapons of the trust-organized commerce: threats, intimidation, bribery, fraud,

[…] If a farmer wanted to expand operations, he required the deep pockets of Northern banks to lend him the money to buy additional equipment, as well as additional labor. (13)

Bankers- High interest rates caused the farmers to pay even more when they didn't have the money to pay.

In the late nineteenth century, many American farmers were experiencing economic insecurity. There were various factors that contributed to why farmers were facing financial hardships in this particular time frame. The fundamental factors were the commercialization, overproduction, and mechanization of agriculture. These factors are by no means all of the driving forces that lead to this time of financial insecurity, but they are large contributors to say the least. After the Civil War, subsistence farming was gradually morphing into commercialized farming. Instead of farming to support oneself or one's family at a minimum level, farmers began leaning towards making large profit off of their crops.

Arguing that the majority of farmers during the Great Depression benefitted from the government policies produced through President Roosevelt’s New Deal is an inaccurate claim. While history textbooks highlight the improvement of finances for people in rural areas in the United States of America, the personal experiences of family farmers contradict those textbooks. Writers of textbooks about American history should consider looking further into the delicate topic of how the Great Depression effected common farm families. In the West, farmers endured the Dust Bowl. In the North, people in rural areas competed to make a profit. Although statistics show the most economic damage of the Great Depression beginning at the end of 1929, small farm families refer to the effects of the Depression dating back as early as 1925 since government policies mostly benefitted large farm industries as small farms were forced to foreclose.

The farmers in America had a very difficult time when the Great Depression occurred. “People who grew up during the Depression said, ‘No one had any money. We were all in the same boat.’ Neighbors helped each other through hard times, sickness, and accidents” (Bill Ganzel). Because no other profession gave enough money at the time, buying much of a farmer’s produce was not in their price range. Farmers would have to either lower their prices or make no profit at all. Though a wide variety of issues made a farmer’s job difficult in the 1930s, the problems mainly all arose as a result of tenant farmers (people who rented land to farm). Tractors became available, though expensive, and many landowners would buy one which ended up causing problems (Bill Ganzel). Due to the lack of money, affording a tractor for each tenant farmer on a landowner’s

In 1890 clergyman Washington Gladden wrote an article called “The Embattled Farmers”. In it he blamed the ruin of the farmers on “protective tariffs, trusts…speculation in farm products, over-greedy middlemen, and exorbitant transportation rates.”

An Insurance agency that continues to change the industry is Progressive and began in 1937(Progressive, About) Progressive was also the first to reduce rates for low risk drivers, as well as offering comparison rates with its top competitors on its website. (Progressive, Intro). They are currently based out Mayfield Village, Ohio with branches in 450 cities and employee around 25000 individuals.

Due to falling profit rates in commodities, investors in the late 1920s had “begun to shift their money from investments in manufacturing to speculation on the stock market” (868). In October 1929, speculators panicked and began selling their stocks for pennies on the dollar (868). Farmers who used the borrowed money to

State Farm was founded in 1922 by a retired farmer and insurance salesman, George Jacob "G.J." Mecherle. Mecherle’s original vision, to operate fairly and do the right thing for the customers, still guides the company today. What started as a single line auto insurance company, has now grown to an entity offering nearly 100 products and services to help customers manage today and prepare for tomorrow. Currently, the company handles nearly 35,000 claims per day, which demonstrates its level of commitment to policyholders. State Farm offers access online and offline through statefarm.com, or through one of more than 18,000 agent offices nationwide. Over the next few sections, State Farm’s mission, culture, and family of companies will be discussed as a summary of the organization and its achievements.