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Excerpt from Oral History Interview with Bobby Kirk, October 28, 1985. Interview K-0013. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) See Entire Interview >>

Some thoughts on farmers' financial vulnerability

Kirk describes the economic crisis that farmers are facing at the time of the interview. He describes farmers as gamblers who wager thousands of dollars on a crop that any number of factors, including luck, could destroy. Kirk sees farmers entering a cycle of debt, perennially borrowing against their hopes for future yields. Farming's vulnerability, and the unique characteristics demanded by the job, make it a particularly fragile occupation.

Citing this Excerpt

Oral History Interview with Bobby Kirk, October 28, 1985. Interview K-0013. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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