The Rest of the Story

Public Needs Greater Understanding of Farming

Earlier this Spring I quietly watched as a group of Washington Elites (hey that’s what they call Congressmen, staffers, think tank employees, key environmental operatives etc…) as they were asked a series of questions to assess how much they knew about modern agriculture. The answer for most was not very much and even the most informed had no idea how fast change, driven by technology and innovation, is giving Ag a makeover.

Most didn’t think family farmers existed any more, despite the fact that USDA numbers show well over 80 percent of the corn grown in this nation comes from you guessed it….family farms. One piece of good news was that when presented with a list of the top industries in this country and they were asked if they could save only one, what would it be? They unanimously chose agriculture. They recognized that biological sustenance seemed kind of key to our survival.

About the only other thing that the group agreed to universally was that Ag subsidies are bad and should be eliminated. Folks in the industry call them incentives because they help keep the aforementioned family farmers feeding the nation. Farm programs help assure farmers will still be around next year when Mother Nature or the Chicago Board of Trade try to crush any profitability out of their operations. So in fact, saying you want family farmers to survive and opposing programming protection of some kind are quite contrary.

A new study illustrates another reason farm programs exist. Compared to other major agricultural producers-both developed and developing countries-America ranks near the bottom of the subsidization and tariff scale, according to a global subsidy handbook compiled in April by Texas Tech University.

Conducted by researchers at the university’s Cotton Economics Research Institute (CERI), “the study highlights the often overlooked fact that all countries, regardless of size, protect their agricultural producers-and generally do so far more than we do in the United States,” explained CERI director Dr. Darren Hudson.

“Our research shows that the U.S. falls near the bottom of the heap in terms of the use of tariffs and in a similar position relative to domestic support,” he continued. “Unfortunately, because the World Trade Organization (WTO) recognizes some subsidies and not others in their calculations, WTO Doha Round negotiations could make the playing field more lopsided, putting the U.S. farm sector at an even greater disadvantage.”

The good news is that the Ag industry recognizes the need to modernize farm policy to fit today’s grower needs, consumer needs and budget realities. That is what the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program, adopted by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill, is all about. It represents a fundamental reform in U.S. farm policy. With rising input costs, greater market volatility and other operational challenges, this program provides an additional risk management tool for producers and provides assistance to growers when and where it is needed most. For more information on the program you can go to: http://ncga.com/acre-resource-center