Farm Subsidies

Yahoo recently ran an article which contained the following quote from a farmer in Minnesota, "What do they want from us? Do they really want us to succeed out here and support our local communities? Or do they want us to quietly go away and sell out to an investor?"

I found this line to be classic. This woman was complaining that the new Bush budget suggested pretty hefty cuts to classic farm programs. I can compare it to a welfare mother complain about how, after 70 years, her payments were being cut, leading her to not be successful. Does that make sense? Then why are we paying farmers tens of billions of dollars per year?

It is probably helpful to start from the beginning. Farm subsidies began around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, when farms were closing up shop. The were being bankrupted by failing banks and natural disasters. They have continued to receive payments because small states (farming states) have just as many senators as large states.

Now, farmers are paid billions to produce more, less, and sometimes no crops at all. All of these factors, of course, affecting the prices of the items they farm. In fact, 10% of all farms out there receive nearly 3/4 of all of the subsidies. This generally means agribusinesses, like Archer Daniels and Corn Products. So next time you wonder about how we can lower taxes, think about all of the subsidies we pay to the largest agricultural corporations.