The Latest from AgMag

New York Times editorial board member Verlyn Klinkenborg writes about “ The Folly of Big Agriculture” at Yale 360. An excerpt: In its short, shameless history, big agriculture has had only one big idea: uniformity. The obvious example is corn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that American farmers — big farmers — will plant 94 million acres of corn this year. That’s the equivalent of planting corn on every inch of Montana.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Environment

In these tough budget times, taxpayers are subsidizing profitable farm businesses while 12.7 million people remain unemployed. And the press is taking note.  The Argus Leader, citing the Mitchell Technical Institute, reports the average net farm profit in South Dakota is $120,000.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Environment

Ron Hays of the Radio Oklahoma Network reports on candid comments by Mark Lange, President and CEO of the National Cotton Council of America, on the hurdles in the way of crafting a new farm bill. An excerpt: “The commodity groups themselves have made it a little difficult on Congress because the commodity groups aren’t giving the Congress a unified voice."

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group vice-president for government affairs, penned an op-ed in today’s Washington Times that asserts that with record profits, farmers shouldn’t be reaping larger subsidies. Some excerpts: More and more farm payments are being delivered as premium subsidies for farm insurance policies. As more farm businesses purchased government-subsidized insurance, the cost to taxpayers has exploded: from $2.4 billion in 2001 to nearly $9 billion in 2011.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

For too long, funding provided by the United States’ most far-reaching food and farm legislation -- the farm bill -- has primarily benefited agri-business and industrial-scale commodity farms that aren’t growing food. 

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Food

Local & Sustainable

Healthy Eating

America’s water, soil and wildlife habitat have never been under greater assault from the ravages of modern industrial agriculture. And since industrial crop production is exempt from most federal regulations, farm bill conservation programs and policies like the conservation compact are often our only line of defense against erosion and water contamination by toxic agrichemicals.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Environment

Senate Agriculture Committee leaders are planning to draft their version of a 2012 farm bill by the end of April, a legislative aide told The Hagstrom Report. We hope they produce a proposal that produces a fair, equitable and fiscally responsible safety net for working farms and ranches, protects clean water and the environment, and increases affordability of and access to healthy food.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Water

More than 1 million Americans are now on record demanding mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods so that consumers will know what they’re buying. The Just Label It campaign has submitted the signatures on a petition calling on the Food and Drug Administration to require labeling. Today (Tuesday) is the deadline for the FDA to respond.

Key Issues: 

Farming

Farm Policy

Food

The most troubling news this week was a report from Stephanie Paige Obgurn of High Country News, which took a comprehensive look at the alarming conversion of native prairie grassland to intensive row cropping (subscription required).

Key Issues: 

Farming

Subsidies

Farm Policy

Environment

Food

Local & Sustainable