Point counterpoint

Point – counterpoint. In a commentary in the Idaho Statesman recently, writer Daren Bakst led off with the statement, “Washington just can't stop meddling in agriculture. Its bureaucrats saddle farmers with crushing regulations while Congress provides wasteful and harmful handouts. He mentions the whole EPA and WOTUS issue which cannot be denied as being banal.

 

However, as far as the Congress providing wasteful and harmful handouts, such as the recent USDA Granting of $20.2 Million for Food and Forestry Research and Development Projects… listen to what Idaho Farm Bureau reporter and blogger Jake Putnam points out: "Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research now returns over $20 to our economy, and that's why USDA has increased our investment in delivering problem-driven and solutions-based science from the farm to the lab to the boardroom. Since 2009, through the Small Business Innovation Research program alone, USDA has awarded nearly 850 research and development grants to American-owned, independently operated, for-profit businesses, allowing hundreds of small businesses to explore their technological potential, and providing an incentive to profit from the commercialization of innovative ideas.” Since 2009, USDA has invested $19 billion in research and development touching the lives of all Americans from farms to the kitchen table and from the air we breathe to the energy that powers our country.