Posted on 05/14/2021 7:06:21 PM PDT by ammodotcom
Farm subsidies are perhaps the ultimate, but secret, third rail of American politics. While entitlements are discussed out in the open, farm subsidies are rarely talked about – even though they are the most expensive subsidy Washington doles out.
All told, the U.S. government spends $20 billion annually on farm subsidies, with approximately 39 percent of all farms receiving some sort of subsidy. For comparison, the oil industry gets about $4.6 billion annually and annual housing subsidies total another $15 billion. A significant portion of this $20 billion goes not to your local family farm, but to Big Aggie.
(Note that this $20 billion annual farm subsidy figure doesn’t take into account the 30+ years of ethanol subsidies to the corn industry nor export subsidies to U.S. farmers issued by the USDA.)
The government never properly explains why this is. Certainly small farmers are growing their crops at enormous risk. However, it’s not clear that agriculture is any different than other high-risk industries – especially because the United States is blessed with some of the most fertile farmland in the world, and a highly skilled labor force.
Subsidies don’t just cost taxpayers, an expense that might properly be justified by showing a return on investment. Subsidies also provide powerful disincentives against innovation, as well as cost effectiveness and diversification of land use.
There is also a strong case to be made that farm subsidies are a major driver of the obesity and cancer epidemic in the United States. Every time Washington interferes in the private sector, they are picking winners and losers. The winners chosen are companies producing food that’s high in calories and low in nutritional density – and that helps make Americans sick and fat, because it distorts what food is available at what price.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammo.com ...
“farm subsidies are rarely talked about – even though they are the most expensive subsidy Washington doles out.”
“All told, the U.S. government spends $20 billion annually on farm subsidies”
The total PPACA subsidies are far larger I believe.
WASHINGTON - ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, who owns a sheep ranch in New Mexico, was criticized yesterday by New York's Republican senator for receiving thousands of dollars in federal farm subsidies.
Donaldson said he dislikes the subsidy system but it's part of staying competitive in the sheep business.
In a Senate speech, Sen. Alfonse D'Amato read from a Wall Street Journal article published Thursday that Donaldson was the third-largest recipient of wool and mohair payments in Lincoln County, N.M.
“Corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice” are the biggie$.
“There are smaller subsidies for peanuts, sorghum, and mohair. Producers of meat, fruits, and vegetables can only benefit from crop insurance and disaster relief.”
https://www.thebalance.com/farm-subsidies-4173885
Combine food subsidies with the ADA controlled by Big Food and it’s a disaster.
They apparently love raising sheep in Scotland, judging by a hour’s bus ride south of Edinburgh.
If the sheep there are subsidized, Queen Elizabeth must have fiscal nightmares.
Thats not it.
The diet model they have pushed on the public, plus the idiotic overly simplistic bmi catgories all of a suden overnite made people who were healthy, overweight or obese by a lot of preconceived assumptions on height and weight alone.
“it’s not clear that agriculture is any different than other high-risk industries”
Mother Nature is often happy to provide clarification.
Duh ! Fast food makes you sick. Not farmers !
Why is the author worried about $20bil when this administration wipes their ass with trillion dollar bills?
I farm, my family has farmed in this county since 1889.
I took the time to read this article to my wife and we discussed it.
She is a diabetic, she has a history of being heavy. So we watch her diet.
The article is absolutely on point. My ancestors survived here with no subsidies. They did it with a team of mules. Far cry from where we are today.
I’d sign on for a free to farm without a subsidy, but doubt the consumer would like the impact of that change.
“Farming is easy, if your pencil is your plow and the nearest field is 1,000 miles away.”
“There is also a strong case to be made that farm subsidies are a major driver of the obesity and cancer epidemic in the United States.”
For “high density fructose corn syrup” corn and obesity, yes, in my opinion.
For cancer? Evidence please!
Yet, people claim we still have “food deserts” in our cities.
“Fast food makes you sick.”
[That was probably writing by a person who can readily afford tablecloth dining.]
Not all of it. And probably not even the majority of it.
I suspect fried food is rather bad for human health.
I suspect the soda, more than the food, leads to obesity. This is from the carbohydrate sweeteners and also from the carbonation breaking up the food much faster in the stomach.
“Government Cheese” by The Rainmakers. A fun band
There’s nothing trivial about the necessities and abuses of farming subsidies. One would need to be experienced and certainly well-informed to make sense of it all.
Regrettably, I cannot recall the details of the article, but in summary, it argued lobbying and regulations inevitably changed the Country’s eating habits for the worse. The initial timeframe was the 1950s IIRC.
Nah.
The web is a great tool, but much of the reality of the world existed before the web. And things prior to WWII seem to be almost ignored.
My memory (am 73) and those of my brother are the only people in my family who can retell stories and legends of the time before my Grandparents. I have lots of photos and incomplete understanding of who all of the people in them are.
When my brother and I are gone, those real world connections will end. (unless they are written down)
We still have a one row planter that was drawn behind a wagon (1 of 3) from Coryell County, when my ancestors came here in 1889. The steel wheels still roll freely on the axle, and we have the planter box and plates stored in a barn. The wooden tong on it is in need of replacing, and the spring that holds the seat needs replacing. Otherwise it is in great shape.
My brother and I own one farm that has been in the family for 130 years.
The Federal and State Agriculture Departments are run by bureaucrats. The people who work for them are largely clueless about what it takes to grow a crop or raise cattle. And they simply don’t care, but some of them have ego’s that would indicate otherwise. Plant computers on top of that, and constant tracking of ever detail of life, you have created a monster that is both stupid and powerful. Detached from reality.
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