Farm Bill Apathy

Farm Bill Apathy

Will September 30 really come and go without a passing of the Farm Bill? It appears so. It is hard to believe that House and Senate leadership would be quite as clueless, or perhaps more accurately, as callous as to believe that not reauthorizing the Farm Bill will mean that no one will really suffer “down on the farm”; USDA projects record farm income after all. To believe this is akin to not being able to see the forest for the trees. Perhaps a reality check on where a substantial amount of that income might be coming from is in order. Could it be in part to rather large crop insurance payouts due to the worst drought in over fifty years? With this year’s corn crop being a lost cause and livestock being liquidated at record rates, that record farm income will more than likely start to slide back down pretty quickly. Sadly, there are many out there, including some members of Congress, who believe that the Farm Bill is about paying farmers not to farm. We as a nation tend to take farmers for granted. There will always be farmers, there will always be food, right? Yes, there will always be farmers, but how many will survive is the real question.  

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