John Deere Have A Beer

Stopped in a bar and had me a beer
Met me a man by the name of John Deere
Said he made tractors, cultivators, manure spreaders

Said before men had to use their hands
Now they’ve got big machines to lend a helping hand
Where it took about one-hundred women and men
Now it takes only about ten
To plow the same fields

Started thinking about what he said
Soon thoughts came running through my head
Saw farmers out on the road
Couldn’t afford the payment on their car, farm or home
As a matter of fact, I saw three and a half million farmers
In the last thirty years
Just up and disappear

Guess there were six million farmers in ‘44
Now there’s only around two point four (million)
That’s about one hundred and seventy-five thousand
Farmers each year disappear
Thirty thousand farmers by the month
Four thousand seven hundred and seventy-one point six, six, six by the week
Replaced by bigger machines to cut down the barley, oats and wheat
Three hundred by the day
Thirteen by the hour
About every six minutes that comes and goes
There’s one more farmer has to hit the road

Started figuring if my figuring is correct
In the next twenty years
All the family farms might disappear
Started wondering what people would do
If the farmer decided to stop growing all that food
I’m sure we’d find something to eat
There’s always lots of paper and plastic

So, I hurried up and drank my beer
And said fare-thee-well to Mr. John Deere

Words & Music by Larry Long
Copyright Larry Long 1978; Renewed 2025 / BMI

Appears on

Listen Now

Larry’s music is available on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, Bandcamp and select e-tailers