WASHINGTON (July 27, 2007)—After an intense buildup to what most Washington insiders thought would be a bloody battle, the much-anticipated Kind-Flake farm bill hit the House floor with a thud late last night. The plan offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) was swiftly and soundly defeated by a vote of 309…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 25, 2007)—In a Dear Colleague letter to Members of Congress today, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) joined the growing voices of legislators supporting a strong farm bill and called upon her colleagues to “Please oppose any attempts to weaken this important measure…and support H.R. 2419.” In her letter, Velázquez—who serves as Chairwoman of…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 24, 2007)—Farmers from across the United States are descending upon Capitol Hill in anticipation this week’s floor vote on H.R. 2419 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Those farmers are actively working to have their voices heard. In a letter sent to all members of Congress today, major national, regional, and state agriculture…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 23, 2007)—The farm bill plan introduced by two extremist members of the House of Representatives, Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would devastate rural economies and farms across the country, according to a study released today by the Agriculture and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M. All crop farms and nearly all…
DetailsBy now, the opponents of farm policy sound like broken records. The Senate Agriculture Committee had not even completed its markup of the farm bill, and these naysayers were already attacking the bill and Committee members for not making reforms. It seems like no matter how many concessions the agricultural community makes, they will never…
DetailsAll too often we hear from self-anointed advocates who claim that U.S. farm policies contribute to poverty around the world. Yet they consistently ignore the real experts on global issues calling for the very same policies those naysayers are predisposed to reject. Moreover, rarely, if ever, does the media focus attention on the international organizations…
DetailsThe last vote had barely been cast on the House farm bill when the spin machines for groups from the far right and far left started whining in overdrive. Oxfam America—a group that invested considerable resources promoting the Kind-Flake farm bill that was swiftly and soundly defeated by a bipartisan vote—issued a press release entitled…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 18, 2007)—U.S. agriculture is under siege and the farm policies on which so many depend are close to being gutted. Rural America must stand up and be heard. That is the startling message being delivered to growers across the country by their leaders in Washington. “An amendment or series of amendments to eliminate…
DetailsBy Farmer X WASHINGTON (July 17, 2007)—According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), my operation received about $110,000 in farm program payments in the 2005 program year—a lot of money by many standards. The insinuation of this is that we are rich farmers, rolling in the dough provided by hardworking American taxpayers. Nothing could be…
DetailsBy: Jeff Nunley Recently, one of my neighbors in town was complaining about our U.S. farm program. He made the statement that he wished the government would subsidize his income, like it did for farmers. My response was that our farm program did subsidize his income. How? By keeping food costs low. This frees up…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 11, 2007)—The German Marshall Fund put out a press release on May 3 that proudly proclaimed, “Dan Morgan, former staff writer for the Washington Post, has joined the organization as a Transatlantic Fellow.”1 Morgan was quickly listed on the German Marshall Fund’s website as an ag policy expert2; he started writing a column…
DetailsThe Vietnam veteran from Erath, Louisiana, and his father were slowly increasing the size of the 100-acre farm that Charles’ grandfather started. Jerome, Charles’ young son quickly fell in love with farm life. The Guidry team was good about keeping costs low, and the prices they received for their crop seemed fair. Their world was…
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