Farm Bill 2013
Reports & Consumer Guides
Farm Bill 2013
About every five years, Congress debates legislation popularly known as the “farm bill,” a huge and complex measure that largely determines the nation’s agricultural and nutrition support policies. The bill was up for renewal in 2012 amid intense disagreements about farm subsidies, crop insurance, conservation requirements, funding for nutrition assistance and a host of other issues, and lawmakers were unable to reach agreement. In the end, the House and Senate passed only a nine-month extension of much of the 2008 farm bill, leaving major policy disagreements unresolved. For years, EWG has been a major player in the farm bill debates, and these pages are your guide to EWG’s policy positions, to the latest farm bill news and to key facts that must inform the discussions of agricultural and nutrition policy.
EWG Farm Bill 2013 Platform
EWG Farm Bill 2013 Platform
The new farm bill must do more to support family farmers, protect the environment and encourage healthy diets - all while supporting working families.
EWG Farm Subsidy Database
EWG Farm Subsidy Database
The database, which is updated annually, tracks $240 billion in farm subsidies from commodity, crop insurance, and disaster programs and $37 billion in conservation payments made between 1995 and 2011. It is searchable by zip code, by state and by program. See where your tax money is going.
The Case for Conservation
The Case for Conservation
Farm bill programs that protect water, soil and wildlife habitat are under assault. EWG research shows how unchecked agricultural pollution, inadequate conservation practices, high commodity prices and lavish farm subsidies contaminate water supplies, erode soil and destroy habitat.
The Case for Crop Insurance Reform
The Case for Crop Insurance Reform
Federally subsidized crop insurance has quietly become the most expensive and troubling way that taxpayers guarantee farm businesses a generous income. Read EWG blogs, statements and reports that track the trend toward ever more lavish protections.
Direct Payments
Direct Payments
These long-discredited subsidies send checks out year after year to highly profitable farm businesses and thousands of non-farmers who own cropland, and as of 2013, the payments continue. EWG’s Farm Subsidy Database makes clear that the program serves no public purpose.
Farm Bill Politics
Although only a third of all farmers collect farm subsidies, lobbyists for Big Ag interests, which benefit the most, wield enormous influence and virtually unlimited funds to get their way in Washington. It doesn’t hurt that some members of Congress themselves cash subsidy checks. In the game of farm bill politics, EWG has kept score for years.
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