[junta]

I’ve heard from many a farmer that the direct subsidies are their margin. Then this goes up the line to the land banks who loan the money for land and operating credit and this goes up the line to the banks that lend them the money and even the big ag suppliers. Great while its in expansion, but in the last few years it blew up into a bubble IMO bigger than the 70s, and bubbles always burst.

[wita]

There are farmers and their are ranchers. Both produce the food we eat. Farmers have been receiving subsidies for years. Ranchers annually lose livestock, to various causes. The difference being that ranchers do not enjoy the benefits of subsidies, that increasingly benefit large corporate farm operations.

[cuban leaf]

I believe that when this ends, food will skyrocket to what it actually costs to produce. It is one reason we moved from Seattle to rural central KY last year. This is our first year with a large garden. We expect a so-so crop (plenty of tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini) but we really are getting the soil ready for the winter crop and next year.

We expect growing your own food to become financially beneficial by then, and obviously the quality is better.

Our twelve hens should start laying by August too.

[A Strict Constructionist]

“I’ve heard from many a farmer that the direct subsidies are their margin.”

You know that little bridge in Brooklyn, it’s for sale again.

[upcountryhorseman]

Big Ag certainly benefits from these subsidies and is the principal reason they are maintained. Groweres of fruits,
vegetables, and nuts do not receive subsidies so they are
totally subject to market forces as they should be.

[Tublecane]

“I’ve heard from many a farmer that the direct subsidies are their margin”

Do you ever ask them why they get their margin for free when the rest of us have to earn it? If so, do they ever respond with anything but some variance on “Farmers are special”?

[PeterPrinciple]

Direct payments have really declines in recent years. It has been the carrot to control farmers. Recently the stick of regulations has been the preferred method.

The new fashion of govt help is subsidized crop insurance. When you take the risk out of an enterprise like we did with housing, it changes thing drastically. The insurance subsidy is what has driven up the costs of rent and inputs.

[PeterPrinciple]

Direct payments have really declined in recent years. It has been the carrot to control farmers. Recently the stick of regulations has been the preferred method.

The new fashion of govt help is subsidized crop insurance. When you take the risk out of an enterprise like we did with housing, it changes thing drastically. The insurance subsidy is what has driven up the costs of rent and inputs.

[rusty millet]

Don’t lose sight of the fact that the Farm Bill also sets research agendas for the next 5 year period, including biofuels research and subsidies. The USDA increased its emphasis in biofuels as a means of maintaining “relevance” and increasing funding. The farm bill helps to set research agendas not only for appropriated USDA funds, but also for University researchers which compete for taxpayer dollars based on agendas outlined in the Farm Bill.

As a nation blessed by abundant energy resources, we are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars chasing grass as a source of fuel. What a joke.

We are borrowing 1/3 of every dollar spent, and can’t find anything to cut in the budget? Let me help.