Farm Bill 2012

[forestofglory]

The House Committee on Agriculture is now holding hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill. The Farm bill is the bill that authorizes agricultural subsidies in the US. Most of these go to Big Ag. (According to the Environmental Working Group 10% of farmers received 74% of the money. See here. ) Agricultural subsidies are not good for the environment – they encourage more intensive agricultural, which more input intensive, and more likely to cause soil problems and runoff. Subsidies are also deeply unfair to farmers in less developed countries, whose products compete on the same market even though farmers in the developing world generally don’t receive subsidies.

So I very much want US farm policy to change. I think my ideal system would be crop insurance for small farmers, combined with payments of ecosystem services – that is paying farmers for soil conservation, clean water, and habitat creation. I’d also like to see more research into less input intensive farming like Integrated Pest Management (IMP), cover crops and permacultures. Another good program whould be increased educational opportunities for farmers to learn about these methods. I don’t think most of this will happen, and will settle for less money going to Big Ag.

Here are some links related to 2012 farm bill debate:

http://farm.ewg.org/index.php EWG’s farm subsidy database

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/gearing_up_for_the_next_farm_bill/ Slow Food Blog Post with Links

http://www.farmpolicy.com/ A blog that tracks Farm Policy in the US. Very detailed reports of what is being said, but a bit dry and short on context.