Trump tariff payments went to big farm operators
When the Trump administration poured billions of dollars into rural America to mitigate the impact of trade war, "most of it bypassed the country's traditional small and medium-sized farms that were battered by the loss of their export market," said the CBS News program 60 Minutes on Sunday. It's just as likely big farmers will benefit in a big way when the USDA disburses $16 billion in coronavirus-relief cash to farmers and ranchers, said the program.
Cotton industry targets Senate limits on farm subsidies
The House and Senate made relatively few changes to the farm program in passing separate versions of the new farm bill. The next step is to reconcile differences in the bills, and the cotton industry's desire to protect its subsidies is just one of a long list of likely flashpoints.
On a British dairy farm, father and son differ on ‘Brexit’ vote
Dairy farmer Rob Warnock says he'll vote for Britain to leave the EU despite the likely loss of $60,000 a year in EU subsidies, says The Associated Press. While Warnock believes the referendum will be a wake-up call to the national government on the matter of better agricultural policies, his father is skeptical that will happen, so he says he will vote to stay.
WTO members agree to eliminate ag export subsidies
In a meeting that ran a day longer than scheduled, trade ministers of WTO nations agreed to phase out export subsidies for agricultural goods. The commitment would apply at once to industrialized countries, and only a handful of products would be excluded.
Reformers eye popular, expensive crop-insurance plan
Farm-policy reformers in Congress want to rein in the costs of the most popular, and most expensive, part of the federally subsidized crop insurance program: revenue policies with the so-called Harvest Price Option (HPO).
Greek farmer wants to disqualify part-timers and absentees
International lenders say, as part of putting its financial house in order, Greece must make its farmers pay higher taxes and pay more into pension funds. The demands have ignited protests by farmers, and one farm leader, Christos Gontias, has called for an overhaul of agricultural supports in a country where farmers are revered and a political force.