by Tonya Allen As Farm Bill negotiations continue, opponents of farm policy are again ratcheting up the rhetoric about all of the “rich and famous farmers” in America that are rolling in the dough. It might make for a nice sound bite, but it’s hardly the truth. There’s a “thin green line” of only 210,000…
DetailsA new comprehensive analysis of the recently released National Trade Estimates (NTE) and Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) reports show an international playing field sharply tilted against U.S. producers. The analysis, authored by veteran trade advisor and former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Don Phillips, details the many barriers and obstacles currently facing U.S. exporters (both tariff and…
DetailsOn the issue of means testing in crop insurance, the devil is certainly in the details. But in order to actually find that devil, all you need is a calculator. Take, for example, the introductory remarks on the Senate floor by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who in the context of his amendment to means test crop insurance, inaccurately stated…
Detailsby Rene Pastor It’s hard to imagine food rationing was part of daily life in the United States, especially when you can go into your grocery store of choice and buy everything from a steak to a sack of sugar. That wasn’t the reality more than 70 years ago during World War II when German U-boats…
DetailsTotal government spending on farm safety net programs – including all commodity programs and crop insurance – dropped by two-thirds from fiscal years 2000 to 2012, according to data provided by USDA and the Congressional Budget Office. The reduction took place as spending on commodity programs – including direct, counter-cyclical, loan deficiency and other payments which once…
Detailsby Tonya Allen As the United States Congress begins negotiating a new five-year Farm Bill and discussing major spending reductions, Brazil, one of America’s largest competitors in the global marketplace, is doubling down its rate of subsidization. Brazilian farm subsidies increased two-fold in the past three years, according to the Brazilian government’s own recent report to the…
Detailsby Tonya Allen The old saying is that politics makes for strange bedfellows. Case in point: Brazil and U.S. farm policy critics. It’s really no surprise that these two have danced together time and time again, considering Brazil, more than any other country, has the most to gain from dismantling U.S. farm policy and weakening…
DetailsBy Thomas P. Zacharias Admittedly, opponents of farm policy attract more headlines than the men and women who put food on our tables and clothes on our backs. Then again, it is far easier to get attention with sensationalist claims and unsubstantiated data. Take the drought of 2012 for example. Opponents of crop insurance made…
Detailsby Bing Von Bergen There is a lot of buzz in Washington again this year about the prospects of a farm bill. For those of us in agriculture, a five-year farm bill is one of the few things Congress can do to take some of the guesswork out of farming. That’s because farming is an…
DetailsThis is the first in a series of articles that will examine the cost of failure when strong farm policy is not enacted. Food scarcity: it is not something we often think about. We are, after all, the wealthiest nation in the history of mankind. Not free of want — but certainly a land of plenty … flowing…
Detailsby Rene Pastor To many people, Brazil’s image in the sugar and ethanol market is that of low-cost operators who used their smarts and free-market philosophies to become a top producer and exporter in the world. That, it seems, is largely spin. The reality is that Brazil’s government is subsidizing its producers, while simultaneously criticizing…
Detailsby Cristina DC Pastor USA Rice Federation (USA Rice) and Ducks Unlimited (DU) recently forged a new partnership that will serve as a model of cooperation and communication between a farm group and a conservation organization. The USA Rice-DU Stewardship Partnership will address rice production, waterfowl and water conservation projects, programs and policies that are…
DetailsAs crop insurers prepare for the Farm Bill and funding deliberations in the future, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) has released a detailed question-and-answer resource laying out the facts about crop insurance and dispelling some of the most common arguments against crop insurance put forth by its critics. “Crop insurance is the single most important…
DetailsWhen putting together a Top 10 List of agriculture-themed videos it would be tempting to choose the ones that have gone viral and we have all enjoyed, like the epic Dodge Ram “Farmer” commercial, the “I’m Farming and I Grow It” and “Farm It Maybe” parodies, among others. Instead, Farm Policy Facts chose to use…
DetailsFarm Policy Facts has released Farm Bill 101, a current and comprehensive guide to the nine titles that make up the Farm Bill. The resource includes a title-by-title history and summary and is an essential tool for those wishing to better understand this complex package of agriculture, conservation, rural development, research and food assistance policies.…
DetailsFormer USDA Chief Economist Keith Collins, Ph.D., predicts a smaller farm safety net in the future, but one that cements crop insurance. “We will see a greater evolution in the reliance on crop insurance in 2013,” Collins said. Collins stated that one only needs to look at the past few years to recognize…
Detailsby Rene Pastor It was the one thing that was on the mind of most everyone at the 2013 annual outlook conference of the U.S. Agriculture Department. Weather. Can a drought as horrific as 2012 spill into 2013? “There are … risks that we can’t control,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in his keynote speech…
DetailsAs lawmakers debate the next Farm Bill, more than 40 commodity groups, lending organizations, input suppliers and other stakeholders are calling on Congress to oppose to any changes to crop insurance that would discourage producer participation in insurance or undermine private sector delivery of insurance products. “In agriculture, one thing is for certain: crop loss…
DetailsFarm Policy Facts has released its Top 10 list of agriculture-themed editorials. The list, which was shared via social media (@FPFNews, Facebook) over the past two weeks, includes guest op-eds in that have appeared in major news outlets across the country. Authors include Wesley Clark, Miss America Teresa Scanlan, former Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest…
Details(OVERLAND PARK, Kan.) — Critics who said that farmers who purchased crop insurance were “praying for drought, not praying for rain” or were “laughing all the way to the bank” during last summer’s historic drought were strongly rebuked by farmers, crop insurance agents and claims adjusters in a new video released today by National Crop…
DetailsPublished in The Hill Congress Blog There is a huge story playing out right before our very eyes this year in agriculture that nearly everyone is missing: Despite the fact that this nation has faced two of the worst farming years in decades – with devastating drought in the Southern Plains and flooding in the…
DetailsBy Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam Published in the Orlando Sentinel 2-29-13 An old proverb says; “when there is food, there are many problems; when there is no food, there is only one problem.” While we in the United States enjoy our bounty, most of the world’s population struggles mightily to feed themselves and…
DetailsBy Tonya Allen The U.S. Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) has begun a sweeping investigation into whether other countries are providing farm subsidies that violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, according to U.S. trade officials. Many believe the probe is long overdue, given the obvious escalation of foreign farm subsidies in many countries and their…
DetailsBy Rene Pastor It seems simple enough. What is a farm? The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) defines it as “any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year.” “Very large farms” are defined as having gross sales of more than $500,000.…
DetailsBy Cristine Pastor When the Mardi Gras celebration returned to New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana following the historic hurricanes of 2005, Jim Simon’s attendance as the resplendent King of New Iberia’s Krewe of Andalusia felt truly special. Simon is the manager of the American Sugar Cane League (ASCL), which represents Louisiana sugarcane farmers…
DetailsMother Nature pulled few punches in 2012. By the end of June, a majority of the continental U.S. was in some stage of drought and the continued lack of rainfall, combined with historically high temperatures, conjured up images of the Dust Bowl for rural America. The focal point of this drought was America’s breadbasket, putting…
DetailsWASHINGTON (February 4) – A diverse coalition of agricultural organizations that came together during the 2008 Farm Bill debate under the name Farm Policy Facts announced today that they are stepping up education activities during the 113th Congress. Those groups, which include the American Sugar Alliance, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers,…
DetailsLast week the National Journal headlined, “BIG OIL TAKES GLOVES OFF IN ETHANOL FIGHT.” The argument is this: The cost of producing ethanol from corn is food insecurity. Playing into their argument this year is the terrible drought that was and is smothering many parts of the U.S.—including the heart of our corn producing lands.…
DetailsLibertarian and environmental groups are urging the House of Representatives to oppose a five-year farm bill this fall, oppose inclusion of Direct Payments in an extension of current law, and advocate for a transparent farm bill process next year. These groups are entitled to express their views, but they also owe Congress the truth. Regrettably,…
Details“The weather forecast could have a big effect on America’s economic forecast next year. The more rain, the better.” That was the lead sentence in a recent article written by Jim Tankersley, the economics correspondent for the National Journal. Notice we didn’t say the “farm bill” correspondent, and Mr. Tankersley wasn’t just talking about agriculture’s…
DetailsWith less than a month left in the 2012 presidential campaign, most of the country is in a pretty dark place—metaphorically speaking. Never before have candidates had so many ways in which to communicate all the mistakes their opponents have made—and so much time to do it in. Negative ads about unemployment, the national debt…
DetailsWhile the nation’s farmers have been busy fighting the effects of one of the worst droughts on record, certain members of the media have been busy with a fight of their own. Over the past several weeks, planted articles have downplayed the importance of farm policy and, a more recent argument accused the crop insurance…
DetailsEditor’s note: The following is a guest column written by Larry Combest, who served the people of West Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 20 years, including as Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Agriculture. He works as a lobbyist for the firm he started with Tom…
DetailsOur nation’s farmers are less optimistic about their circumstances than they were in March, according to a recent survey published by DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Some high (and some low) lights from the survey report that, based on a benchmark rating of 100: – – Current conditions are considered to be 120.4, down from 140.2 earlier…
DetailsThe U.S. food and beverage industry should be proud. This week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that they added 4,800 food manufacturing jobs in August, as well as an additional 4,200 related jobs in food and beverage stores, 28,300 in food and drinking establishments, and 28,000 in accommodation and food services, making them a…
DetailsBy Rene Pastor On land where wheat stalks, heavy with grain, would normally wave on a breeze in the late summer, the searing drought of 2012 has zapped nearly every inch of land across the Kansas plain, leaving it burnt and lifeless. There was no way to hide from the drought in the Grain Belt.…
DetailsThey want a Farm Bill, and they want it now. A coalition of more than 80 agricultural organizations – spanning a variety of commodities and interests – has banded together to deliver one, simple message: Let’s pass a Farm Bill. The message – which started as statement and quickly got picked up by the Tulsa…
DetailsTwo years ago, The Hand That Feeds U.S. reported on a phenomenon known as “sticky prices,” something that occurs when crop prices go down, but food prices remain high. Theses two variables are often considered one in the same but are really very independent of one another. The crop or “commodity” price is what farmers…
DetailsThe Hand That Feeds U.S. (THTFUS) has launched a new, interactive map, featuring facts about each state’s agricultural production and its contribution to the U.S. economy. The map, located on the group’s website, is yet another step taken by the “educational resource” to inform Americans about the vast reach of our agricultural system (did you…
DetailsAs one of history’s longest, most widespread droughts continues to suffocate crops and livestock nationwide, the importance of crop insurance is becoming increasingly obvious to those in agriculture. Yet, despite what the vast majority of the farmers and ranchers who are being affected by the drought and counting on the reliability and efficiency of crop…
Details