Is It Time to Plow it Under?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Comments on Modern Farm Policy

In American history, when businesses or industries critical to the American way of life have faced severe economic strife, Congress has stepped in and provided bailouts to ensure essential services and employment continue. We saw this in the wake of the September 11, attacks with the airline industry, and again in 2008 through the Troubled Asset Relief Program to stabilize the banking sector during the Great Recession. Collectively, the government agreed that these businesses were too big and too important to fail.

Farmers and ranchers are essential to American well-being. Just 2% of Americans are responsible for feeding, fueling, and clothing not only Americans but much of the world. When considering the enormity of the task, two percent feels microscopic, but when compared to other industries, it’s actually pretty big. In the United States, just over 1 million people are employed by an airline company, equating to about 0.3% of the US population.

That 2% doesn’t seem so small now, does it?

Over time, public policy has massively overhauled how the federal government interacts with agriculture, aiming to sustain our national food supply, bolster exports, build the economy, and to some degree, stabilize employment. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was really the pioneer of agricultural policy with the changes implemented through the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The passage of this bill marks the start of “modern” agricultural policy and ensured that farmers and ranchers had the support they needed to continue to feed and clothe all of us.

https://onecountryproject.substack.com/p/is-it-time-to-plow-it-under

[pat_k]

1. kick 'n' rec - Very important article!

Emphasis is mine:

Since 1996, agricultural policy has received more minor updates and any “major” changes have largely been band-aids on the programs originally constructed during these landmark bills. It’s been more than 30 years since agricultural policy was truly updated and nearly 40 years since the industry has needed a “bailout”.

Today’s agricultural economy is in free fall. Farm bankruptcies are up, production is being consolidated, markets are unstable, and farmers and ranchers are unable to earn a living wage while they are expected to provide for the rest of the United States. While some might believe that eventually the market will rebalance, there is also something to be said for the government ensuring that the agricultural industry is strong, food continues to be produced, and people stay employed. Expecting policies written before the iPhone was invented to work in a society that can milk cows from an app is nothing short of insanity.
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