Agriculture
Return to Common Sense
August 23, 2010
Section: Domestic
- Agriculture
“Farm subsidies have
morphed into a corporate entitlement program for big agribusiness, and are no
longer needed in a global free market.”
“I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can
be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of
useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman''s
cares.”
George Washington.
Philosophy
(Background, Issues, Objectives):
Federal government protects land for public use.
- The United States oversees 650 million acres, mostly in the West,
of national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, Indian
reservations, and rangelands.
o
650 million acres, representing 29% of
the nation’s total land, is government owned.
o
Federal lands include national parks, military
bases, and District of Columbia.
o
A national
park is a reserve of land protected from most human development and
pollution.
o
Most national parks have a dual role as offering a
refuge for wildlife and as serving as popular tourist areas.
o The
United States Forest Service is administered by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and oversees 193 million acres of national forests.
o Through
its Bureau of Reclamation, it maintains over 600 dams with reservoirs that
provide water and hydropower to 30 million Westerners, and irrigates 60% of the
vegetables grown in
o Almost
70% of the nation's oil and gas reserves are found on Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) administered lands, also under the purview of the Interior Department.
- Federal
protection can overlay private land use.
o
1906 Antiquities Act closed land for development by
designating “monuments.”
o
President Carter locked up 50 million acres in
Alaska, despite state opposition.
o
President Clinton locked up 5.9 million acres in 19
new national monuments and expanding three others.
o
Designation of land as
“monuments’ is being used for other than antiquities purposes:
- Land is being
locked up to “avoid the
necessity of listing indigenous animal species as threatened or
endangered.”
- Land is also
being locked up to prevent “the
threat of oil and gas development.”
- Environmental
protection can have unexpected negative consequences.
o
Land use restrictions have driven thousands of
blacks out of
o
Unproven environmental accusations can cause plant
relocation costing many jobs.
o
Rejection of drugs and insecticides based on
unproven risks can cause many deaths.
Agriculture subsidies seek to level
global marketplace with federal payments.
- Farm policy is
based on premise that crop surpluses have driven down crop prices.
- Improvements in
shipping and handling have made farming a global industry.
- Government
supports selected commodity groups.
o
USDA is required by law to subsidize two dozen
commodities.
§
Cotton, wheat, sugar, rice and dairy products.
§
Milk subsidies artificially props up milk prices,
and create cartels to manage the marketplace.
§
Sugar program restricts supply, guarantees minimum
price, and restricts imports.
o
USDA began selling off its grain stocks for good in
the late 1980s.
o Protectionism,
such as tariffs and quotas, props up the price of agriculture at home.
- Starting in the
Depression, taxpayers have spent $1.2 trillion on this effort.
o
From 1999 to 2005, $1.1 billion was paid in the
names of 172,801 deceased individuals.
o Cash
payments for agriculture purposes cost $172 billion over last decade
o Cash
payments for agriculture purposes cost $25 billion in 2005.
o Farmers
paid $1.3 trillion since 2000 not to plant selected crops.
- Farm subsidies
cost developing countries $24 billion every year.
Agriculture subsidies seem no longer to
be warranted by global competition.
- Net farm income
hit new highs of about $274 billion – highest 4 year total ever
- Protectionism, such
as tariffs and quotas, props up the price of agriculture at home.
- Farm subsidies
are tilted to large agribusinesses (wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans, and
rice).
- Two thirds of
subsidies are distributed to the wealthiest 10 percent of farmers.
- Farm subsidies
are viewed as political pork for home districts.
- Majority of
subsidies go to commercial farms with average incomes of $200,000 and net
worth of nearly $2 million.
- When New Zealand repealed its farm subsidies in 1984, it met initial
resistance, but farm output, productivity, and profitability have soared
since.
Dozens of countries have curbed export
of agriculture.
- World grain
production will be at a record high in 2008.
- Export of rice
and wheat is restricted principally in
Other countries are beginning to end
farm subsidies.
Principles:
Free market capitalism is most
efficient industry model.
Recommendations:
Short
Term, Phase out all farm and commodity subsidies
to return agriculture to the free market.
Revisit lands designated under Antiquities Act for
applicability vs. abuse.
Open federal land to tightly controlled
natural resource harvesting.
- Require any commercial exploitation include requirement to return
habitat to original state.
- Treat
environmental radicals as zealots and domestic terrorists.
- Reform the
Endangered Species Act to involve property owners in the conservation
process.
Long
Term, abolish the Department of Agriculture
and Department of Interior as not legitimate federal function.
·
Abolish
all agricultural and rural subsidies ($30 billion annually).
·
Repeal
agricultural trade barriers.
·
Devolve
food subsidy activities (food stamps, school lunches, and WIC) to the states ($98
billion annually).
·
End
Forest Service subsidies to state governments and private businesses (515
million annually).
·
Sell
or transfer the national forests to the states (self-funded from forest-related
receipts).
References:
“Reform’s
Stunted Crop” by David Orden dated Spring 2002 published by Cato Institute on http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv25n1/v25n1-3.pdf#search=%22%E2%80%9CReform%E2%80%99s%20Stunted%20Crop%E2%80%9D%20by%20David%20Orden%22
.
“Save
the Farms – End the Subsidies” by Chris Edwards and Tad DeHaven dated
“
“The Withering of Farm Policy Reform”
by David Orden and Robert Paarlberg
dated
“Another
Year at the Federal Trough: Farm Subsidies for the Rich, Famous, and Elected
Jumped Again in 2002” by Brian M. Riedl
dated
“The
Senate Attempts to Prematurely Extend the Bloated Farm Bill through 2011”
by Brian M. Riedl dated October 27, 2005 published by
The Heritage Foundation at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm899a.cfm
.
“Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who
Don’t Farm” by Dan Morgan, Gilbert M. Gaul, and Sarah Cohen
dated
“Welfare
Kings” by Jonah Goldberg dated
“These
Lands Are Your Lands” by G. Tracy Mehan III
dated
“
“Five
Reasons for the Senate to Reject Boosting Farm Subsidies” by Brian M.
Riedl dated
“Fighting
for Subsidies” by Rich Lowry dated
“Freeing
the Farm” by Sallie James and Daniel Griswold dated
“The
Perfect Firestorm: Bringing Forest Service Wildfire Costs under Control”
by Randall O’Toole dated April 30, 2007 published by Cato Institute at http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8210 .
“Plowing
Farm Subsidies Under” by Bruce Gardner dated May 17, 2007 published
by National Review Online at http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTA5ZjA0Nzc5MWY4YTJhNWY2YTIwNDZlYjA4MjIxMzI= .
“Agricultural
Subsidies” by Chris Edwards dated
“How Farm
Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too” by Brian M. Riedl dated
“Milk
Madness” by Chris Edwards dated July 2007 published by The Cato
Institute at http://www.cato.org/pubs/tbb/tbb_0707_47.pdf
.
“Nothing
Sweet about It” by Frances B. Smith dated
“The
dirt on farm subsidies” by Brian M. Riedl
dated
“Dead
Men Farming” by John Stossel dated
“
“The
Best Farm Policy is the Free Market” by Tracy C. Miller dated
“Farm
bill pork: Congress should scrap bloated subsidies” dated
“Farm
Policy Needs to be Plowed Under” by Matt Danko
dated
“$16
Billion in Federal Taxpayer Farm Subsidies – Growing Problems”
by Paul weyrich dated Februarty
20, 2008 published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/21678
.
“Against
the Grain” by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar dated
“The
New Landlord” by Bill Croke dated
“Bound
to Burn” by Peter W. Huber dated April 20, 2009 published by Front
Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=0AE9D665-37A3-4EDE-A8CB-B10CE9DDF827 .
“White
house land grab” by Jim DeMint dated March 2, 2010 published by The
Washington Times at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/02/white-house-land-grab/
.
“Department
of Agriculture Proposed Spending Cuts” by Chris Edwards dated May
2010 published by Downsizing Government at http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/proposed-cuts
.
“Fourteen
Ways to Reduce Government Spending” by Grover Norquist
dated August 18, 2010 published by Americans for Tax Reform at http://www.atr.org/files/files/081810pr_14_Specific_Spending_Reduction_Ideas%281%29.pdf
.
