Agricultural Adjustment Program : The Price Loss Coverage ( ARC )

The modern program was established as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s but has undergone mass changed since then (Edin, 2014). One being that the government gives out electronic debit cards, rather than stamps, for buying food. Since 2008, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program has become the largest food assistance program in the U.S. It serves greater than 45 million people in the U.S and is a critical safety net program for health and nutrition in the U.S (The History of SNAP, para.

Former president George Washington once said, “Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man,” (George Washington Quote). Since Washington’s presidency, countless advancements and developments within the agricultural industry have allowed the United States to grow, develop, and become one of the most prosperous countries in the entire world. Nevertheless, this prosperity is also marked by several key historical events, such as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, which have caused the core values and traditions that this great nation was built on to slowly disappear. Today, the majority of Americans have no knowledge, understanding, or appreciation for the agricultural industry, causing them to take for granted the basic necessities they rely on each day. This disconnection has created a gap between producers and consumers, which is known as

Agricultural subsidies is a very complex and controversial economic topic today. It will continue to be a hot topic as government continues it. It is largely debated in the United States as well as in other countries. The reason it is so largely debated is because it literally have an effect on the entire world market. Not to mention that the farm has been booming the last 5 to 10 years. This topic also tends to draw strong opinions in our area in particular due to the large agricultural community in our region. However, even within different states there are many supporters as well as opponents to these government subsidies.

Although a 2002 agriculture law superseded many parts of FAIRA, acreage was still increased because of the growing demand for corn in animal feed, the need for corn in ethanol manufacturing, and the increased possibility to make food with corn byproducts. These seem to be good and fair reasons to focus our efforts on increasing output, however, the same issue arises: the more corn that is made, the less stable a livelihood farming becomes, regardless of the subsidies that the federal government provides.

This article written in the Texas Agriculture, a magazine published by the Texas Farm Bureau, is about all the factors impacting farmers that effect their income. Over the past couple years, a combination of things has caused the average Texas farmers income to drop. The primary audience for this article is the farmers in Texas as they are experiencing these issues first hand. The secondary audience would be consumers who have noticed price fluctuations in products at the store and are wondering the reason.

Although farm subsidies all have their roots to one major piece of legislation, there are multiple variations that are common. One of such subsidy programs allows farmers to counter fluctuations in various aspects of their production. If prices for a crop take astounding hikes or fall dramatically, subsidies can provide in time of need. This is the most well-known farm subsidy program, but there are other aspects that get remarkably overlooked. Even insurance coverage, product marketing, research and conservation efforts are subsidized under the current Farm Bill. With the present situation, many Americans believe that the government carries too much control in the agricultural market. For a more detailed breakdown of where the funding in the Farm Bill goes to, see the pie chart below for a reference. These numbers are accurate as of the 2014 Farm Bill, per the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) restricted the production of crops. The AAA encouraged farmers to not only limit, but also to “destroy their crops” in an effort to help the economy (“Farm Relief”, 2002, p. 10). While the government attempted to support unsuccessful farmers, landlords took advantage of the opportunity to make a profit. The AAA’s scarcity program allowed for landlords in the cotton-growing regions of the South to force sharecroppers and tenant farmers off of the land (Watkins, 1970, p. 193). As some landowners were outraged at the thought of ruining their produce, others went through with the

The farmers then give their products to the manufacturers, who represent the bottleneck of the food system (21). “The ten largest companies control half of the world’s seed supply. …Ten firms control 90% of the nearly $38.6 billion pesticide markets (111-112).” Monsanto, being one of the ten companies that controls the world’s seed supply, is a company that has patents on all of its seeds and products. It produces genetically modified crops that are resistant to its own pesticides and herbicides, so that when a pesticide or herbicide is sprayed and it destroys all plants, the Monsanto seed survives because of its resistance. The reason that Monsanto is able to stay in business is because of the economic benefit it poses for the farmers. They are able to produce their crops at a much higher yield because they are losing less of their crops to pests. This higher yield results in lower costs for the consumers as well (Planes). As discussed

continuation in producing very high amounts of corn and different corn products which has only added to the corruption of the nitrogen cycle but also the agricultural system which has only negatively impacted the American diet. Pollan continues to support his claim of how the government supports and benefits farmers for their corn by bringing up that the US Department of Agriculture pays nineteen billion dollars to farmers each year for their continuation in the production of corn.

Agricultural Adjustment Act- To raise crop prices by lowering production. Government paid farmers to leave a certain amount of every acre of land unseeded. Government paid cotton grower $200 million to plow under 10 million acres of their crop. Complaints that it was destroying food when people were starving.

The government paid farmers to keep a part of their land out of farming as we can see from the picture on the left. It did this for the 7 basic crops which were, corn, wheat, tobacco, rice, milk, cotton, peanuts. With many farmers participating there were some that decided not to. There were very few though since most didn’t have enough to not participate.

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.

For the past three years, the Foundation has provided support to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) for its public policy program. With Foundation support, OEFFA has worked diligently to define its policy agenda and create an online advocacy infrastructure for its work. Among the issues OEFFA has focused on is the reauthorization of the Federal Farm Bill, as Ohio has several key appointments on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and its impacts on sustainable farming.

The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years

Big businesses have a major influence towards American agriculture. Large capital investments have contributed to the success of American agriculture. Monsanto is the world’s leading agricultural biotechnology company that has used fundamentally changed the way many