The United States recently filed a case against India in the World Trade Organization (WTO) hoping to unclog trade channels for U.S. poultry producers. “India’s ban on U.S. poultry is clearly a case of disguising trade restrictions by invoking unjustified animal health concerns,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said via a press release. “The United…
DetailsA new study by Health Economics throws a bucket of cold water on assertions that try to blame U.S. farm policies for obesity rates. “Contrary to common claims in the popular media, farm policies have more likely slowed the rise in obesity in the United States,” the study finds. The authors note that “[Michael] Pollan…has…
DetailsFrom Commodity Classic (Nashville, Tenn.) – The following statement on the 2012 farm bill was released today by: National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer, a corn grower from Auburn, Ill.; National Association of Wheat Growers President Wayne Hurst, a wheat producer from Burley, Idaho; American Soybean Association President Steve Wellman, soybean farmer from Syracuse,…
DetailsBy Larry Combest Growing up and working on my own family farm during hard times, and devoting much of my adult life to U.S. agriculture, it is a source of pride that I was privileged to help put in place the kind of farm policies that pulled the sector out of crisis and have contributed…
DetailsBloomberg News ran an editorial titled “Farmers Making $100 Billion Don’t Need Subsidies to Grow” that was picked up by a handful of newspapers. The title alone struck a nerve in rural America. Farmers and ranchers who have suffered everything from severe drought to unforgiving wind and rain, and in many cases, the loss of…
DetailsTogether, America’s farmers make up an economic powerhouse. They are a cornerstone of this nation’s security and prosperity—an engine leading us toward an economic recovery—and yet, so often, their value is taken for granted or overlooked. But America’s farmers are not just creating wealth here at home, they are buttressing the whole world — a fact that…
DetailsYou have to hand it to the National Association of FSA County Office Employees (NASCOE). While nearly everyone else is calling on the private sector to do more and the government to do less, NASCOE is proposing to expand the role of government by urging Congress to end the highly successful private sector delivery of…
DetailsAs a former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture I can attest to the fact that farming is indeed a risky business. News reports out of USDA’s Risk Management Agency underscore that point all too clearly: With some 15 percent of all crop insurance claims yet to be processed, crop insurance companies have…
DetailsGiven Bloomberg News’ expertise in financial markets and the U.S. economy, their editors’ unexpected attack on one of America’s few fiscal success stories came as a big shock. Agriculture—and by extension, America’s food and fiber supply—isn’t worth much government investment, Bloomberg’s editors surmised in a January 30 opinion piece. Try telling that to the 21…
DetailsAgricultural leaders representing most major crops convened January 31 and February 1 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the 2012 Farm Bill. Hosting key policy staff, administration officials, and industry experts, the groups gained a new depth of knowledge on which to build their discussions. From the meeting, there was a consensus that the agricultural community…
DetailsAgriculture is a unique industry in so many ways. One particular way—it is perhaps the only area of the federal budget to have shrunk in the past 10 years, yielding cuts even as it was coming in under budget. Funding for farm policy over the last five years (’07-’11) averaged $12.9 billion per year. This…
DetailsWith claims still streaming in — only an estimated 81 percent of expected claims have been finalized — crop insurance companies have already paid out a record $9.1 billion in indemnity payments to America’s farmers in 2011. This has already surpassed the former record of $8.67 billion in indemnities paid in 2008, according to USDA’s…
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