subsidies
Grassley’s farm bill challenge: Limit subsidies to actual farmers
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to tighten down access to U.S. farm subsidies, a lightning-rod issue as Congress tries to update ag and public nutrition programs this year. "Why can't we require farmers who collect huge sums of money from the government to actually work on the farm?" said Grassley on Monday, arguing for a "hard" cap of $125,000 per person in annual payments and restricting payments to farmers, their spouses and one manager per farm, regardless of size.
Grassley urges House to cap farm subsidies, says he expects Senate to agree
The House farm bill opens the door to unlimited subsidies, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday, urging adoption of a $125,000 per person limit available only to actual farmers. Grassley told reporters that he will seek the same limit in the Senate version of the farm bill.
In House, ‘a lot of undecideds’ on farm bill
While ready to move on the farm bill, House Republican leaders are giving Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway time to persuade "a lot of undecideds" to vote for tougher work requirements for SNAP recipients and looser subsidy rules for farmers. A sizable number of Republican lawmakers say Conaway wasn't tough enough on either group and want to tighten the access to federal support.
Small farms, despite hardship, get less U.S. farm support
A new report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found that as much as 75 percent of small farms in the U.S. are experiencing serious financial risks, compared to around 30 percent of large farms. The report, “America’s Diverse Family Farms,” concluded that despite their high level of risk, small farmers are also less likely to receive government farm supports, which disproportionately are allocated towards large-scale farms.
GAO says ‘significant savings’ possible in crop insurance costs
The government could pare as much as $464 million annually from the cost of running the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance system if it set more stringent terms with insurers, said a congressional watchdog agency. The recommendations hit different areas than the White House has targeted, or that lawmakers are expected to pursue in writing the 2018 farm bill.
Dairy farmers ask for more generous subsidy plan
The dairy subsidy created in the 2014 farm law, the insurance-like Margin Protection Program, "is not working" but it can be retooled into an effective safety net, the head of the National Milk Producers Federation told the House Agriculture Committee. The changes would provide more assistance to producers during tough times, like the past couple of years, and potentially drive up costs to the government.
Across the board, farm groups ask Congress for more farm bill money
The continuing slump in the farm economy and shortcomings in the U.S. farm program make it imperative for Congress to provide additional funding for the 2018 farm bill, said a powerhouse bloc of farm groups. Their appeal to congressional budget and appropriations leaders came two weeks after the House Agriculture Committee asked for more money so it could plug holes in the farm safety net.
Meta-analysis says food incentives do their job
People will eat more healthy food if prices are lowered and consume less unhealthy food and fewer sugary beverages if they cost more, say researchers who performed a meta-analysis of 30 studies on the issue. Co-author Ashkan Afshin said the meta-analysis demonstrated causality: "Our results show how 10 to 50 percent changes in price of foods and beverages at checkout could influence consumers’ purchasing behaviors over a relatively short period of time.”
New farm bill should be based on need, not cost, says House chairman
The four-year slump in farm income is creating "real potential for a crisis in rural America," said House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway at the first House hearing for the 2018 farm bill. "A good farm bill," he said, "will require resources," meaning money to offset low commodity prices and unfair subsidies overseas.
China sets anti-subsidy duties on U.S. ethanol co-product
Ruling that its domestic producers have been "substantially" harmed, China's Commerce Ministry announced anti-subsidy duties of 10-10.7 percent on imports of distillers dried grains, an ethanol co-product used as livestock feed, from the United States beginning on Friday, said Xinhua.
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.
Voices lowered, cottonseed-subsidy debate continues
The cotton industry and a leading ally on Capitol Hill are pressing to make cottonseed eligible for crop subsidies despite the USDA's conclusion that it lacks the authority to do so. Payments could total $1 billion a year, according to an estimate by university economists.
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.
Conaway: Look for farm trade reforms outside Doha
The United States should work outside of the "failed construct" of the Doha Round negotiations if it wants to see freer trade in agriculture, said House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway.
Congressional leaders find replacement for crop insurance cut
House and Senate leaders added a provision to a compromise transportation bill that would eliminate a $3 billion cut in crop insurance spending, making good on a promise to farm-state lawmakers.
Canada’s only Arctic port, a grain outlet, is for sale
The Port of Churchill, which includes the northern-most grain export terminal in Canada, and the railroad that serves it are for sale, says the Western Producer. Located on Hudson Bay, Churchill is the only Arctic seaport in Canada.
Crop insurance is potential target in world trade complaints
More than 100 countries offer crop insurance, a sign of the rising popularity of the instrument in providing support for producers since the formation of the World Trade Organization, says an IFPRI report. Premium volumes grew by roughly 16 percent a year, to well above $30 billion, in the decade ending in 2013. The United States accounts for one-third of the premium volume worldwide, with China at about 40 percent of the U.S. level. Japan, Canada and the EU also run large programs.
Year-end spending bill would erase crop-insurance cuts
The proposed 3-percent cut in crop insurance funding will be erased when Congress passes its catch-all spending bill at the end of the year, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The cuts were written into the two-year budget pact, announced on Monday, but Republican leaders, under fire from farm-state lawmakers, backpedaled.
Scott, Boozman press for farm bill this year
The farm bill "isn't dead yet," said Georgia Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, on Monday, although time is running out for Congress to act this year. A spokesman said the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, was talking to "anyone he can to discuss how we can move the ball forward."