farm subsidies
A foe of farm subsidies, think tank would remove food stamps from USDA
The conservative Heritage Foundation, which wants to eliminate crop subsidies and revenue insurance policies, also is gunning for food stamps, the largest federal anti-hunger program. In its recent "Blueprint for reform" paper, the foundation says control of food stamps should be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services and that Congress "should introduce work requirements" for able-bodied adults.
Trump ag team packed with governors, big farmers and an ethanol foe
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump named a 64-member agricultural advisory committee that includes six farm-state governors, the chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, some of the biggest farm operators in the country, and an Iowa entrepreneur mentioned as a potential Trump agriculture secretary. The group also includes an oil-industry executive who opposes the so-called ethanol mandate and who founded a group that challenges animal-welfare groups.
Trump’s latest ag adviser likes deep-fat fryers, but not the EPA
After naming GOP funder Charles Herbster to be chair of his Agricultural and Rural Ag Committee, Trump has nominated Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to be co-chair, says Mother Jones—and the press are waiting for the antics to begin.
Dairy farmers get $11.2 million in monthly subsidy payment
The Agriculture Department said it sent $11.2 million in a monthly payment to dairy farmers through the insurance-like Margin Protection Program, calculated at the highest payment rate since MPP began in 2014. A week ago, 61 lawmakers urged USDA to respond to low milk prices through larger federal purchases of dairy products and to "offer financial assistance that will directly support U.S. dairy farmers equally."
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.
Dairy farmers keep the milk flowing as prices fall
Good times or bad, milk production seems to go only one direction in the United States — up, which it is doing for the third year in a row despite a tumble in market prices. Economist Scott Brown says if the industry is unable to cut output, the only solution to excess milk supplies will be larger domestic and export demand.
‘Ignore the subsidy lobby,’ says EWG in review of farm economy
"There's a lot of doom and gloom in the air about the state of the farm economy," says a report by the Environmental Working Group, and much of it is a campaign for larger crop subsidies. "The farm subsidy lobby has been working overtime to sue what it calls a 'farm crisis' to deflect well-deserved criticism of the fatally flawed federal subsidy program that they're desperate to protect."
Senators cite discrepancies in crop subsidy rates
The senators from the No. 1 corn state in the country, Iowa, asked USDA to explain how it determines county yields, a key factor in determining subsidy payments.
Economist tries to find rationale for crop insurance subsidies
After raising the question if there is an objective rationale for the high premium subsidy given to farmers who buy crop insurance, economist Carl Zulauf combed years of data for an answer. In a blog at farmdoc Daily, he says the answer may be to consider the types of risks that farmers face.
USDA skimps on checking if farmers reduce erosion, preserve wetlands
The government rarely checks to see if farmers carry out soil and water conservation duties that are part of the farm subsidy program, said Agri-Pulse, citing a report from the USDA's inspector general. The IG reported that random sample reviews were conducted in only one of USDA's farm support programs from 2012-14.
Large and rising costs make crop insurance a budget target
The pricetag for the federally subsidized crop insurance program more than doubled in a decade, blossoming to a $8.6 billion line item in 2014, writes Ohio State economist Carl Zulauf in a blog titled, "Why crop insurance has become an issue."
A long-shot attempt to tighten farm-subsidy rules
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley is blunt about how farm-subsidy reform was watered down in the 2014 farm law. "We were snookered," he says, by the four lawmakers who negotiated the final version of the law. Now he's trying to "eliminate the loophole that was intentionally included in the farm bill."
China vows to stop stockpiling corn, try other ag subsidies
Stuck with a six-month supply of corn in the warehouse, China “has pledged to end a costly corn stockpiling policy that has hit world markets,” says the Financial Times.
Estimated cost of new U.S. farm subsidies nearly doubles
Instead of saving money on crop subsidies, the 2014 farm law will cost far more than anticipated, says economist Vince Smith of Montana State University.
Farm income forecast at half of 2013’s peak for years
Low commodity prices will hold net farm income below $60 billion annually - half of the record $123 billion of 2013 - for years to come, said a University of Missouri think tank.
Cottonseed subsidy request would cost $1 billion
The cotton industry request for USDA to make cottonseed eligible for subsidy as an oilseed raises several policy questions including where to find the $1 billion a year that the program would cost, say four economists. Market prices are so low that payments are certain if Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack approves the request to declare cottonseed an "other oilseed" covered by the subsidies offered to grain and soybean growers.
As crop prices sink, farm subsidies soar
The government faces three high-cost years for farm subsidies, beginning with $5.8 billion for this year, says the Congressional Budget Office, as low commodity prices drive up the cost of programs that stabilize crop revenue. In its latest budget baseline, CBO forecasts crop subsidies will cost a total of $22 billion for fiscal 2016, 2017 and 2018. That's a 9 percent increase from the estimate it made a year ago of $20.1 billion for the period.
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.