Extreme weather raises cry for crop insurance
The recent spell of extremely cold weather in the Midwest’s wheat-producing states reaffirms “the need for a 2018 farm bill and strong federal crop insurance program,” declared the High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal.
R&D for ag deserves more funding – get it from subsidies, says AEI
Agricultural productivity growth is slowing down in the United States because of a decline in spending on food and ag research, says the free-market American Enterprise Institute, presenting a long-term threat to domestic food production and international competitiveness. The authors of an AEI position paper said funding on research and development should double and said it could be offset by cutting "wasteful farm bill spending" in crop insurance and crop subsidies.
Invest in ag research, end farm subsidies and insurance, free market group says
Congress can save billions of dollars a year on the 2018 farm bill by axing crop subsidies, crop insurance and many conservation programs, says the free market American Enterprise Institute in reports issued today. Some of the money "should be re-allocated to programs that do provide U.S. households with genuine positive benefits," such as agricultural research, and the rest of the $16 billion a year "could be re-allocated to other uses, including lower tax rates," says AEI.