The Latest on Farming
A new Government Accountability Office report released today finds a host of major problems with federal direct payment farm subsidies.
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Now that the Senate has passed a farm bill that ends direct payments to farmers, the pressure is on for the House to do the same. Trish Choate of the San Angelo Standard-Times uses the 2012 EWG Farm Subsidy Database to explain the federal handout system in Texas, the state that receives the most farm subsidies.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group’s latest update of the farm subsidy database shows that Iowa grain producers are still reaping big benefits from taxpayers. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the Hawkeye State “ranks second in the nation in terms of farm subsidies, with 8.7 percent of the total in 2011.”
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group’s latest update of the EWG farm subsidy database shows that farm subsidies continue to benefit the largest and most successful farm businesses and a handful of states and congressional districts.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group’s latest update of the EWG farm subsidy database shows that farm subsidies continue to benefit the largest and most successful farm businesses and a handful of states and congressional districts.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group’s latest update of the EWG farm subsidy database shows that 23 members of Congress, or their family members, benefitted from $6,199,807 in taxpayer-funded farm subsidy payments between 1995 and 2011.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group will host a press briefing tomorrow in Room 304 in the Cannon House Office Building at 1:00 p.m. (EST) for accredited journalists and congressional staffers to release its latest edition of its highly referenced farm subsidy database. The 2012 database tracks $277.3 billion in commodity, crop insurance, conservation, and disaster subsidies paid between 1995 and 2011.
Read MoreA 60 Minutes profile of Howard Buffett, who will succeed his father, Warren, as a non-executive chairman of a multibillion dollar holding company, reports that he has received $300,000 in farm subsidies over 13 years.
Read MoreTwo newspaper editorials have applauded Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., for his successful efforts to add a conservation compliance amendment to the recently passed Senate farm bill. The proposal simply restores the conservation quid pro quo between taxpayers and farmers as crop insurance subsidies replace traditional farm payments.
Read MoreToday, the Environmental Working Group thanked 11 senators for leading the fight for true food and farm policy reform in the 2012 farm bill that passed in the Senate. These Senate champions displayed their leadership on issues that will impact consumers, improve the environment and reduce hunger.
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Everyone who eats should take a moment to thank 11 senators who proposed farm bill amendments designed to ensure that our farm and food policies help more farmers, the environment and the hungry at less cost to the taxpayer.
Read MoreToday, CNBC.com reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture encountered significant shortcomings in dealing with fraud in the federal crop insurance program. It pointed out that the newly passed Senate farm bill would open the door for more fraud. The bill, which adds a new layer to the already bloated insurance program to guarantee business income for large farmers, does not have any government protections to prevent fraudulent claims.
Read MoreScott Faber, VP of Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group, fights for amendments to the Farm Bill, urging Congress to ensure that the $90 billion program is used in the most effective way to help all family farmers and protect the e
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group joined a politically diverse alliance of fiscal and environmental groups at the National Press Club today to highlight shortcomings in the 2012 Senate farm bill.
Read MoreJason Rano, Director of Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group, speaks at the National Press Club with a diverse group of Farm Bill reform proponents.
Read MoreA diverse group of Farm Bill reform proponents speak at the National Press Club during a Farm Bill press conference on June 20, 2012
Read MoreEWG issued the following statement by Scott Faber, Vice President for Government Affairs, on the Senate's failure to pass Senator Gillibrand's amendment to reduce subsidies to crop insurance companies to restore proposed cuts to feeding assistance programs and to increase funding for the fresh fruit and vegetable snack program.
Read MoreThe Environmental Working Group releases today an updated interactive map containing more than 550 pro-reform farm bill editorials -- nearly a 100 since the last farm bill. The newly added editorials call for significant reform to current food and agriculture policy in a way that is beneficial to family farmers, hungry children, taxpayers and the environment.
Read MoreThe Food and Environment Reporting Network released an investigation into government subsidized crop insurance today at MSNBC.com.
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