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Catch up on the latest news and analysis from EWG’s team of experts.

Areas of Focus

Areas of Focus

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As farm income returns to normal levels, gaps continue to grow

While farm income is expected to return to normal levels in 2024, the gap between the largest, most successful farmers and their poorer neighbors continues to grow. Increasing farm subsidies, as some...

Increasing crop reference prices would hurt young farmers

Increasing price guarantees for major crops, as some farm groups and legislators are proposing, would make it harder for young farmers – those aged 35 or younger – to compete against larger, legacy...

Do billionaires get farm subsidies?

A blockbuster report by the Government Accountability Office revealed that more than 1,300 “high-income” farmers received subsidies from the federal crop insurance program. But Congress has barred the...

USDA: Conservation backlogs grow despite new climate-smart funding

New data from the Department of Agriculture show that farmer demand for USDA farm stewardship support continues to outstrip available funds, despite $19.5 billion of additional funding for climate...

Triple dipping: Rice farmers received at least $3B from three types of taxpayer-funded programs

Some agriculture groups and Republicans in Congress are proposing to increase crop price guarantees in the upcoming farm bill to boost farm subsidy payments – but an EWG analysis shows some rice...

Increasing price guarantees would likely send more farm subsidies to large partnerships

Some farm groups and Republican legislators have proposed increasing price guarantees for a few major crops, and farm subsidies along with them. But farm subsidies mostly benefit the largest and...

USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program needs reform to improve climate benefits

The Department of Agriculture recently announced changes it has made since 2021 to the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, to improve how it can reduce farmers’ greenhouse gas emissions. This...

Millionaire CEOs run companies getting billions from the federal Crop Insurance Program

In the 2023 Farm Bill, lawmakers are looking everywhere for savings to fund their priority programs. One possible source of savings: big insurance companies’ federal Crop Insurance Program overhead...

Rice to riches: Sixteen rice farms padding their pockets with taxpayer dollars

Just sixteen rice farms in the U.S. have each received at least $10 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies while earning record profits – and now some members of Congress want to give them even more.

Giving IRA conservation funds to farm subsidies threatens millions of cover crop acres

Millions of potential cover crop acres that may help reduce farming’s greenhouse gas emissions could be lost under a plan to shift $19.5 billion in Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, funding from...

Despite record farm income and subsidies, some seek even more handouts

Despite enjoying record levels of subsidies and profits for large farms, and farm household income well above the U.S. average, some lawmakers want to increase farm subsidies for cotton, rice and...

Pocket pickers: Eight cotton farms picking taxpayer pockets

After collecting taxpayer-funded subsidies for 37 years straight, eight cotton farms have received over $10 million each – and now some members of Congress want to give them even more. From 1985 to...

Farm bill for the few?

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently pleaded with Congress to reform farm policies to serve the “many and the most,” not the few, citing data showing family farms lagging behind their bigger...

USDA conservation funding benefits all farmers, not just rice, cotton and peanut farmers

All farmers and ranchers – regardless of what they grow or where they live – can participate in Department of Agriculture conservation programs.

Despite new climate-smart funds, agricultural conservation programs remain oversubscribed

The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, set aside $19.5 billion for agricultural conservation programs that pay farmers to implement conservation practices that reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas...

Calls to increase crop reference prices would help fewer than 6,000 farmers

Some farm groups and legislators have proposed increasing price guarantees for major crops. But the higher price guarantees would mostly benefit fewer than 6,000 farms in a few states, EWG found.

USDA livestock subsidies top $59 billion

The Department of Agriculture has spent at least $59 billion in subsidies for livestock and seafood producers since 1995, according to a new EWG analysis.

Federal Crop Insurance Program reforms can help farmers adapt to climate crisis and cut taxpayer costs

Farmers both contribute to the climate crisis – they’re responsible for producing at least 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – and can also be devastated by its harmful effects, with extreme...

Increasing price guarantees primarily benefits Southern states, analysis shows

Increasing price guarantees for major crops would primarily benefit farmers growing peanuts, cotton and rice in Southern states, not corn and soybean farmers.

Funding for climate-smart agriculture critical to tackling the climate emergency

If Congress cuts billions in climate-smart funding for agriculture in the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, to increase farm subsidies, U.S. farmers could soon become the nation’s leading source of...
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