Essay on Problems with Agricultural Subsidies in the United States

One of the problems that the farmers faced due to the economy change was agricultural overproduction. In the years following the Civil War, agricultural production levels increased rapidly. The opening up of the Great Plains to the plow, the use of farm machinery, new farming techniques, and the spreading of the railroads all led to the flooding of the American market with agricultural produce. Cotton production doubled during the Gilded Age while the price of cotton fell from about 15 cents a pound to less than 6 cents a pound. Although farmers tried to compensate for the depressed crop values by growing more and more, it

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers food assistance programs that help provide food for low to no income families. It is their goal to increase food security and reduce hunger by increasing access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education for low-income Americans (Caswell, 2013, para. 1). Some of the current nutrition assistance programs include “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)”(Caswell, 2013, para. 1). SNAP will be the primary nutrition assistance program of the paper at hand. No matter how morally good it is to try to help reduce hunger and increase food security within the United States, there are still many questions regarding issues with SNAP. This paper will be discussing why there is such a strong support for the program, how it helps the United States as a whole, problems with the program, and why some people are against SNAP.

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.

America — a land known for its ideals of freedom and new opportunities, a nation built under the idea that every man and women is created equal. However, the definition of what makes a person an American is entirely different from what it is that makes up America, itself. J.Hector St. John Crevecoeur, author of Letters from an American Farmer (1782), exposes what he believes makes an American. However, when compared to the standards of what makes an American in today’s world, it seems that becoming an American then was much simpler then, than it is today. The definition of an American is always evolving due to the influences of our changing nation. During a simpler time, Crevecoeur defined an American as someone of European

According to VisionLaunch, people are worried about their papers full of responsibility: money. This corn fuel drives up the price of food products. This means that corn is more expensive since it is being used for fuel. It is a fact that corn is being used more for fuel than food, which is why it is more expensive. Subsidies are to help take care of that problem and reduce the amount of money corn is worth. However, there is a problem because the subsidies are funded by taxpayers which is not affecting us or

The increase in corn production and acreage that comes from FAIRA is yet another slap in the face to the American farmer. By allowing for increased corn production on top of the already surplus of corn that domestic farms already produce, the government is actively lowering the price of corn on the market, making it less profitable for farms to grow and forcing a lot of farms to close down. In the Great Depression era, the United States government under President Roosevelt took to subsidizing and buying up excess stores of corn to maintain crop prices and prevent the collapse of the farming industry in the United States (Pollan 49). This protects farmers and allows them to make a living while also providing reasonably priced crops to feed the country with. The Nixon administration began the trend of deregulation in the 1970s, preferring a free

With the static money supply in the 1880s, farmers suffered from a deflationary impact on the price of goods. They were forced to grow three times their products in order to pay off their mortgages with its high interest rates. The enlarged national market became an issue when Americans began buying imported goods rather than domestic goods. Farmers were left with a surplus of goods, but no consumers. Eventually, the government decided to step in and place the Mckinley Tariff on all foreign goods in an effort to get Americans to begin buying more domestic goods. However, the tariff not only indirectly reduced the national market, but also hurt the farmers because they were unable to keep up with the rising prices of imported farm machinery. The second Industrial Revolution was only able to briefly benefit the U.S.

New mechanized farming techniques led farmers to be able to increase their profits (Document C). With the help of the new technology for farming, farmers produced more crops than ever. However, the overproduction of wheat and the Great Depression is what unfortunately led to the reduced market prices. As a result, the wheat market was swamped, and people were too poor to buy. Furthermore, due to the great loss, farmers were unable to earn back what they produced, so instead they expanded their fields in an effort to turn their unfortunate circumstance into a profit. However, the prairies they covered with wheat caused the grass to slowly disappear and the fields were left bare (Document

Indeed, Document A states that farmers overproduced which caused prices to fall, but it is very evident and far more explanation is given for reasons such as railroads, banks, and the lack of government help.

When the mechanization of agriculture was in effect farmers began to invest in technology so that they can increase the farm worker productivity, and essentially grow more crops. Growing more crops meant that they would be selling more crops, resulting in the increase of profit, but the problem with this is that the machinery necessary to do so is expensive. Since this machinery is a necessity and is expensive that meant that not everyone could begin farming. This means that there were less farmers, but the farmers who who still farming were producing more crops. Farmers thought that the more crops they produced, the more profit they would make, but the overproduction of agriculture was a direct link to economic insecurity of

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.

Yet it wasn’t a change that could have been made overnight. Once the Stock Market Crash in October 1929, the collapse in industrial production and the financial crisis of 1931 led to a great depth depression in agriculture and more in industrial production (Kindleberger 70). There is without a doubt that were having difficulties prior to the Stock Market Crash, with falling prices, rising stocks, inability to sustain borrowing, and the necessity to maintain debt service (91). To begin with, farm debt was serious that the total farm mortgages in the United States had risen from $3.3 billion in 1910 to $6.7 billion in 1920 and $9.4 billion in 1925 (84). National agricultural policies attempted to reduce production of certain crops and animals products, though the initial motivation was to raise prices, increase farm income and stimulate the depression economy (Hornbeck 1480).

The first problem that had a big affect of farmers was the monetary policy that was in place. It allowed for only gold as currency, instead of gold, silver, and paper money. This was done to drive up the purchasing value of gold, it was more valuable and harder to get. It was also harder because during that time a lot more silver had been discovered in the Comstock Lode by miners. The ratio of silver and gold was “16 ounces of silver to one ounce of gold…” (Doc B.) The document talks also about how it affects the farmers “debasement of the currency means destruction of values. No one suffers so much from cheap Money as the farmers and laborers. They are the first to feel its bad effects and the last to

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

Agriculture was the most important economic activity in America from the founding of Virginia in 1607 to about 1890. Although farming declined rapidly in relative economic importance in the twentieth century, U.S. agriculture continued to be the most efficient and productive in the world. Its success rested on abundant fertile soil, a moderate climate, the ease of private land ownership, growing markets for farm produce at home and abroad, and the application of science and technology to farm operations.