"Direct" payments were put in place in 1996, supposedly as short-term cash payments to ease the transition to a world without any farm subsidies. But Congress hung on to these payments even as they brought back all the farm subsidies they promised to end. For 17 years these cash payments have mostly gone out to the most profitable and financially secure farming operation regardless of need. It is time to finally end direct payments.

The Downfall of Direct Payments

Starting in the 1930s, U.S. farm programs focused on reducing crop surpluses and sending checks to farmers when crop prices fell. That all changed in 1996. In a political parallel to today’s Tea Party-influenced environment, the Republican-controlled Congress decided that year that it was time to let the free market – not government – drive the farming economy. In renewing the farm bill that year, lawmakers voted to end the traditional farm subsidy system in favor of five years of “market transition” payments to farmers. But then a strange thing happened. The payments that were supposed to decline annually never actually went away. Read More

City Slickers Continue To Rake In Farm Payments

Remember the last time you were smack in the middle of downtown Chicago or walking down a bustling street of Manhattan? Did you notice the sweeping farm vistas, the rich fields of corn and wheat? Oh, wait a minute. There are none within the city limits of the Windy City or the Big Apple.Read More