Today's edition of the New York Times has an interesting article on the federal farm subsidy system that appeared on the front page under the headline "Big Farms Reap Two Harvests With Subsidies a Bumper Crop." Excerpt:
Farm groups say the subsidies provide for a stable food supply, and ensure that major sectors of American agriculture will be competitive on the global market.
"When people ask me what the justification for this is, I point out that in nearly every country in the world you find government involved in the food supply," said Bob Young, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, the powerful trade group for major agricultural producers.
But because nearly 70 percent of the subsidies go to the top 10 percent of agricultural producers, the recent prosperity is not seen or felt among many small to medium-size growers who keep the struggling counties of the Great Plains alive.
Professor Lauck has listed the fact that it was a good year for farmers as one of the 26 factors in the Thune victory (factor #11).
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