Acton Commentary: Farm Subsidies: Sustaining Dependency
The $291 billion farm bill currently up for debate in the U.S. Senate offers more of the same, discredited thinking on subsidies that ultimately harm, not help, American agriculture.
While there are some proposed measures to limit subsidies to farmers who derive two-thirds of their income from farming -- and perhaps to set some income limits in the $200,000 to $300,000 range -- no consensus has yet been reached. Yet total farm income in the United States is expected to rise 44 percent this year to $73 billion. Regardless of the reforms proposed or defeated, farm subsidies will remain the largest corporate welfare program in the country.
Subsidies foster dependence for farmers to stay in unproductive and saturated markets. A Heritage Foundation study published in June notes, “Farm subsidies are intended to raise farmer incomes by remedying low crop prices. Instead, they promote overproduction and therefore lower prices further. Expensive programs to restrict plantings are then implemented to raise prices back up.” ...
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