Congress/ Farm Subsidies

[drafthorsey]

If you’re following this here’s the headline from Sunday:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A program that puts billions of dollars in the pockets of farmers whether or not they plant a crop may disappear with hardly a protest from farm groups and the politicians who look out for their interests.

The Senate is expected to begin debate this week on a five-year farm and food aid bill that would save $9.3 billion by ending direct payments to farmers and replacing them with subsidized insurance programs for when the weather turns bad or prices go south

[brigle]

I wish the American Farmer would wise up and tell the congress to keep their money and stay out of their business. The farmers and the rest of this country would be so much better off if they would take this stand. The problem is that 10% of the farmers are getting 90% of the money and the other 90% of them are getting pushed out of business. The programs were designed to save the family farm and all its done is destroy it. If the 90% would stand up and tell congress to keep their programs they would be better off and it would put the squeeze on the 10% that is recieving 90% of the money. This goes to show if you want something to fail allow the govt to get involved.

[dominiquer60]

I take pride in not receiving government funding. Many were tempted by the hoophouse funds here in the NE, but I told my extension agent I don’t want my tax money back in that manor, plus I hate paperwork and that was part of the deal. Diversity is key and if a farmer puts all his eggs in a 10,000 acre of corn basket, that is the risk that they take. It will be interesting to what happens if these subsidies are taken away.

I would like to see disaster aid continue, after the storms last fall it was nice to have help digging out and getting started rebuilding, something that most communities could not have survived without help. I do partake in one NYS government Farm Program, though there is some private and grant funding also, but I find the NYSFarmNet a most valuable program for farmers looking for legal, financial and emotional help. They help with business plans and generation transfers which has kept and strengthened many family farms in our state, and the program takes miniscule funding compared to most other programs and it gives back so much to the community by helping farms stay in business. This is the kind of support that farmers need not money in the pocket for growing or not growing crops.

[Robert MoonShadow]

@dominiquer60 35242 wrote:

I take pride in not receiving government funding. Many were tempted by the hoophouse funds here in the NE, but I told my extension agent I don’t want my tax money back in that manor, plus I hate paperwork and that was part of the deal. Diversity is key and if a farmer puts all his eggs in a 10,000 acre of corn basket, that is the risk that they take. It will be interesting to what happens if these subsidies are taken away.

I would like to see disaster aid continue, after the storms last fall it was nice to have help digging out and getting started rebuilding, something that most communities could not have survived without help. I do partake in one NYS government Farm Program, though there is some private and grant funding also, but I find the NYSFarmNet a most valuable program for farmers looking for legal, financial and emotional help. They help with business plans and generation transfers which has kept and strengthened many family farms in our state, and the program takes miniscule funding compared to most other programs and it gives back so much to the community by helping farms stay in business. This is the kind of support that farmers need not money in the pocket for growing or not growing crops.

Very well said!

[Author]

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