Brian M. Riedl: Subsidies are the weeds in America's farm policy
The most-profitable agribusinesses get the biggest checks. Congress can change that.
Brian M. Riedl
Minneapolis StarTribune
Republican and Democratic congressional leaders rarely agree on a major issue. Yet both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, have gone on the record as opposing the current $25 billion farm-subsidy system, which Congress is in the process of rewriting.
Changing the system won't be easy. They will have to battle the powerful agriculture lobby and its allies on the House Agriculture Committee, who are once again employing Norman Rockwell imagery to assert that farm subsidies are an all-American necessity that ensures an adequate food supply and alleviates farmer poverty.
But two seemingly arcane aspects of farm policy undermine both claims. First, farm subsidy eligibility is restricted to growers of only a few crops. Second, once a farmer's eligibility is established, subsidies increase with the size of the farm. This makes farm subsidies just another narrowly targeted corporate welfare program.
On the first point, producers of just five crops -- wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans and rice -- receive nearly all U.S. farm subsidies. In fact, only one-third of the $240 billion in annual farm production is targeted for subsidies. All other farmers -- including growers of fruits, vegetables, livestock and poultry -- receive nearly nothing.
(Continued here.)
Brian M. Riedl
Minneapolis StarTribune
Republican and Democratic congressional leaders rarely agree on a major issue. Yet both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, have gone on the record as opposing the current $25 billion farm-subsidy system, which Congress is in the process of rewriting.
Changing the system won't be easy. They will have to battle the powerful agriculture lobby and its allies on the House Agriculture Committee, who are once again employing Norman Rockwell imagery to assert that farm subsidies are an all-American necessity that ensures an adequate food supply and alleviates farmer poverty.
But two seemingly arcane aspects of farm policy undermine both claims. First, farm subsidy eligibility is restricted to growers of only a few crops. Second, once a farmer's eligibility is established, subsidies increase with the size of the farm. This makes farm subsidies just another narrowly targeted corporate welfare program.
On the first point, producers of just five crops -- wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans and rice -- receive nearly all U.S. farm subsidies. In fact, only one-third of the $240 billion in annual farm production is targeted for subsidies. All other farmers -- including growers of fruits, vegetables, livestock and poultry -- receive nearly nothing.
(Continued here.)
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