Here They Go Again

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its latest rendition of the farm subsidy database, and this one really is a piece of work. Though Farm Policy Facts has been monitoring (and debunking) EWG attacks on rural America since 2007, EWG continues to spin complicated webs of half-truths to garner media headlines. Five years ago…

Despite Attacks on U.S. Farm Policy, Public Stands by America’s Farmers

Although extreme environmental groups and other high-powered special interests have spent millions of dollars lobbying against U.S. farm policy in the halls of Congress and in the editorial pages of major newspapers, a new poll finds that they are not getting traction with the American public. According to the Congressional Connection Poll, conducted by Princeton…

Crop Insurance 101

Earlier this week, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) released the first of what is to be a series of educational videos explaining the importance of crop insurance and its functionality among American agriculture. In this video, aptly titled “Crop Insurance 101,” Tom Zacharias, president of NCIS, reviews the history of the program, why it was…

Subsidy Spotlight: India

The United States recently filed a case against India in the World Trade Organization (WTO) hoping to unclog trade channels for U.S. poultry producers. “India’s ban on U.S. poultry is clearly a case of disguising trade restrictions by invoking unjustified animal health concerns,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said via a press release. “The United…

Commodity Classic Orgs Outline 2012 Farm Bill Priorities

From Commodity Classic (Nashville, Tenn.) – The following statement on the 2012 farm bill was released today by: National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer, a corn grower from Auburn, Ill.; National Association of Wheat Growers President Wayne Hurst, a wheat producer from Burley, Idaho; American Soybean Association President Steve Wellman, soybean farmer from Syracuse,…

A Growing Demand Draws Attention to Chinese Agriculture

Together, America’s farmers make up an economic powerhouse. They are a cornerstone of this nation’s security and prosperity—an engine leading us toward an economic recovery—and yet, so often, their value is taken for granted or overlooked. But America’s farmers are not just creating wealth here at home, they are buttressing the whole world — a fact that…