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…
DetailsAlthough 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…
DetailsWith payments from crop insurers to farmers approaching the $11 billion mark, 2011 will go down in the record books as one of the most destructive and costliest weather years in history. A new video series recently launched by National Crop Insurance Services captures the human side of the issue, with testimonials from farmers, a banker,…
DetailsFor those who have espoused the view that farm policies have made unhealthy food inexpensive and have thus contributed to the over-consumption of junk food, USDA says it’s time to think again. A new study, titled “Are Healthy Foods More Expensive,” found that previous assumptions about junk food being less expensive were based on a biased…
DetailsThe 2012 Farm Bill will include major funding cuts for America’s agricultural sector, and these reductions will come on top of the more than $15 billion in cuts made to farm policy in recent years to help Washington tame its crippling deficit. The scene being played out in other countries, however, is much different. While…
DetailsThe House Agriculture Committee spent much of last week discussing the future of farm policy and what the upcoming Farm Bill needs to look like in order to carry us through the various challenges that lie ahead. Testimony was presented and submitted on behalf of several farm groups, and is included below, along with accompanying…
DetailsNew York City is the fashion and financial capital of the world. Hollywood has been home to some of history’s greatest actors and agents. Detroit is known for harboring America’s auto industry, and Pittsburgh will always be able to claim that its steel helped make America. Each industry has its place in our nation’s fabric,…
DetailsEarlier 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…
DetailsCapitol Hill has been blanketed by propaganda in recent weeks from a fancy grasstops coalition comprised of the same-old-same-old opponents of sugar policy. After years of lopsided legislative defeats, the Sweetener Users Association (SUA) and National Confectioners Association (NCA) appear to have opted for a rebranding and renaming effort. So what should be made of…
DetailsDODGE CITY, KS (April 20) – Texas cotton producer Woody Anderson said here today that Congress needs to approve a new farm bill this year and one that will provide American farmers the key to long-term viability — effective risk management opportunities. A former chairman of and now advisor to the National Cotton Council, Anderson…
DetailsUnfortunately, when it comes to getting out the facts on U.S. farm policy, the First Amendment may not be enough because some in the media have decided readers should get only one side of the story. In the past, we have printed many letters to the editor and columns responding to an attack on farm…
DetailsU.S. agriculture is a driving force in our national economy, helping to lift the U.S. out of two economic recessions in the past 12 years, working to reduce our country’s trade deficit, and making our nation and world more secure by ensuring that food is safe, abundant, and affordable. And cost-effective U.S. farm policy that…
DetailsThe Senate Agriculture Committee met last week to discuss the future of agriculture’s risk management system and how best to maintain or alter its components in the upcoming Farm Bill. Below is a compilation of testimony presented and submitted for the hearing, as well as accompanying press releases. American Sugar Alliance: Testimony. Press Release. Crop…
DetailsAs Congress gears up to write another Farm Bill, some of rural America’s representatives have been urging their colleagues to act swiftly in order to keep one of America’s few remaining economic powerhouses productive. “The time to complete a farm bill is now. This Congress cannot afford to take another jobs bill down to the…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsA new study by Health Economics throws a bucket of cold water on assertions that try to blame U.S. farm policies for obesity rates. “Contrary to common claims in the popular media, farm policies have more likely slowed the rise in obesity in the United States,” the study finds. The authors note that “[Michael] Pollan…has…
DetailsFrom 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,…
DetailsBy Larry Combest Growing up and working on my own family farm during hard times, and devoting much of my adult life to U.S. agriculture, it is a source of pride that I was privileged to help put in place the kind of farm policies that pulled the sector out of crisis and have contributed…
DetailsBloomberg News ran an editorial titled “Farmers Making $100 Billion Don’t Need Subsidies to Grow” that was picked up by a handful of newspapers. The title alone struck a nerve in rural America. Farmers and ranchers who have suffered everything from severe drought to unforgiving wind and rain, and in many cases, the loss of…
DetailsTogether, 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…
DetailsYou have to hand it to the National Association of FSA County Office Employees (NASCOE). While nearly everyone else is calling on the private sector to do more and the government to do less, NASCOE is proposing to expand the role of government by urging Congress to end the highly successful private sector delivery of…
DetailsAs a former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture I can attest to the fact that farming is indeed a risky business. News reports out of USDA’s Risk Management Agency underscore that point all too clearly: With some 15 percent of all crop insurance claims yet to be processed, crop insurance companies have…
DetailsGiven Bloomberg News’ expertise in financial markets and the U.S. economy, their editors’ unexpected attack on one of America’s few fiscal success stories came as a big shock. Agriculture—and by extension, America’s food and fiber supply—isn’t worth much government investment, Bloomberg’s editors surmised in a January 30 opinion piece. Try telling that to the 21…
DetailsAgricultural leaders representing most major crops convened January 31 and February 1 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the 2012 Farm Bill. Hosting key policy staff, administration officials, and industry experts, the groups gained a new depth of knowledge on which to build their discussions. From the meeting, there was a consensus that the agricultural community…
DetailsAgriculture is a unique industry in so many ways. One particular way—it is perhaps the only area of the federal budget to have shrunk in the past 10 years, yielding cuts even as it was coming in under budget. Funding for farm policy over the last five years (’07-’11) averaged $12.9 billion per year. This…
DetailsWith claims still streaming in — only an estimated 81 percent of expected claims have been finalized — crop insurance companies have already paid out a record $9.1 billion in indemnity payments to America’s farmers in 2011. This has already surpassed the former record of $8.67 billion in indemnities paid in 2008, according to USDA’s…
DetailsWestern Sugar, a company now owned by farmers, closed its Goodland, Kan., sugarbeet factory in 1985. Sugar prices were low, the cost of doing business was climbing, and tough decisions were made that hurt workers and farmers. The Kansans who lost their jobs weren’t alone. From 1985 to 2008 low sugar prices remained stagnant as…
DetailsOpponents of U.S. ethanol—Brazil, Big Oil, and multinational food conglomerates looking to drive down farmer prices to boost their own profits—have a tendency to blame the alternative fuel for just about everything. And just when we didn’t think it could get more absurd than the off-the-wall argument that American corn farmers are to blame for…
DetailsAs the United States Congress begins debate of the 2012 Farm Bill, America’s biggest competitors on the global marketplace have been steadily increasing their rates of subsidization, according to a study by DTB Associates. And one of the biggest offenders is also one of the biggest agricultural superpowers and biggest critics of U.S. farm policy:…
DetailsAgriculture has had a strong year. We’ve been reading reports of farms prospering for the better part of a year now. In October it was said that Iowa’s corn and soybean crop alone would almost quadruple the state’s budget. Just last month, the USDA announced that farm exports reached a record high of $137.4 billion…
DetailsA new study of official foreign government data unearthed by DTB Associates shows that a rapid run-up in farm subsidies have put many developing nations, including Brazil Thailand, and India, in direct violation of internationally agreed to subsidization limits. The findings are consistent with a detailed handbook of foreign farm subsidies by Texas Tech University,…
DetailsThe nation’s capital has become synonymous with gridlock—and not just because it is home to one of the worst commutes in the country. With elections looming and elected leaders from both sides of the aisle dug in, Congress and the Administration have put the brakes on nearly everything. But a debt reduction bill crafted by…
DetailsFollowing its anti-farm editorial last week, The Washington Post received two letters to the editor taking exception with its extreme stance. Not surprisingly, the newspaper failed to publish either letter, so Farm Policy Facts obliged. ——– Dear Editor: By any reasonable measure, your calling for the termination of U.S. farm policy is extreme. The Post…
DetailsSitting on a combine for 12 hours a day harvesting corn and soybeans gives a person a certain degree of clarity, combined with long blocks of time to think and analyze. Looking at the corn I’m harvesting, I marvel at the fact that somehow, my family farm managed to dodge the many bullets Mother Nature…
DetailsShoppers won’t be scared off by a rocky economic outlook this Halloween. And their appetite for delicious candy is certain to be a treat for America’s thriving confectionery industry. “Consumer spending for Halloween is expected to be spirited this year, with sales of $6.9 billion, up from $5.8 billion in 2010, according to a National Retail Federation…
DetailsShort of a farm bill vote, or a piece of agricultural legislation moving across the President’s desk for signature, big-city newspapers rarely focus on farm-related news. But that’s exactly what happened recently. It began on October 23 when the Houston Chronicle credited crop insurance with saving “Texas farmers from ruin.” More than 41,000 farmers in…
DetailsCritics of farm policy often like to label it a “New Deal” policy. Their hope is to make the policies that underpin the best food system in the history of the world sound outdated. Never mind the fact that farm policies have undergone radical changes since that time to keep pace with modern challenges and…
DetailsOctober 19, 2011 Dear Senator: We urge you to oppose amendments to the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that propose to alter or negatively affect the mandatory funding for U.S. farm policies. As you know, the agriculture appropriations bill, as reported by the committee, fully complies with discretionary spending guidelines. This is the end…
DetailsOctober 31, 2011 marks a milestone that might be far more frightening than the ghosts and goblins that will be roaming the streets that night. According to an official United Nations report, the world’s population will peak at 7 billion people on that day. And future projections show a rapid ascent to 9 billion by…
DetailsIt’s no secret that agriculture is vital to the American economy. Each state is unique in its ability to produce, add value to, and package products that not only make up our own food supply, but also fuel a booming global export industry that continues to thrive, despite the current economic climate. Recently, the Federal…
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