Farm Subsidies?

[JBeukema]

Can anyone justify deforming market demand and spending your and my taxdollars to subsidize farmers- especially when it comes to paying them to not grow specific crops?

All in favour of letting farmers decide for themselves what to plant based on market demand?

I mean, if it were the dustbowl, I could see the argument for aid. But now it's just corporate welfare's cousin.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

 

[Mr. Peepers]

Nay. I think that only small, independent farms & farmers should be subsidized - something like the SBA, especially in the organic, sustainable farms and ranches. These small farms produce more per acre than monoculture, don't use pesticides and chemical fertilizers, have far fewer food safety issues and would hire local citizens as opposed to illeagals. Subsidies for big agra and non-existent farms gotta go, though. The only reason they still exist is so that farmers get screwed while wall street speculators can gamble with food prices.

 

[VaYank5150]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

 

[JBeukema]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

If that's what it costs, that what we're paying. All we're achieving is hiding the true cost of food by taking the money from people's income to pay part of the cost behind the scenes.

Now, if there's a market for potatoes, more people will grow potatoes. Who knows, maybe people will take up urban agriculture to provide potatoes for the local market and make a few bucks.

Believe it or not, the market, when properly regulated allowed to do its thing, can be really good at this kind of thing.

 

[Toro]

Cut them all.

It is welfare for farmers.

 

[JBeukema]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

Someone will buy an empty lot and grow potatoes to sell at the local farmers' market.

When you prevent olig- and monopolies and pursue policies that encourage and incentivize competition and entrepreneurship, great things can happen.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

You're right. And every American farm would go out of business.

If farm subsidies were ended, American made produce prices would skyrocket. And every American farm would go out of business.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

It surely would make more sense to give them more options......

Other people seem to have managed, well enough.....

​

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

Someone will buy an empty lot and grow potatoes to sell at the local farmers' market.

When you prevent olig- and monopolies and pursue policies that encourage and incentivize competition and entrepreneurship, great things can happen.

The point is that the costs of growing potatoes, or corn, or whatever are much higher than the prices we pay at the supermarket. Land to grow on costs money. Fertilizer costs money.

The average 500-acre farm, with subsidies, makes about $30 dollars in net profit from each acre, each year.

That's $15,000 dollars a year. There's not much wiggle room there.

 

[JBeukema]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

You're right. And every American farm would go out of business.

If farm subsidies were ended, American made produce prices would skyrocket. And every American farm would go out of business.

that's capitalism


i thought the Right loved the global market?


and I've expressed support for import tariffs and bans on all goods not deemed sweat-free in the past; this applies to agricultural exploitation as well as the sweatshops you might be familiar with

 

[JBeukema]

It surely would make more sense to give them more options......

Other people seem to have managed, well enough.....

​

Hemp is too cheap; it'll put the paper mills out of business


that's 1/2 the reason it was made illegal, remember?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

You're right. And every American farm would go out of business.

If farm subsidies were ended, American made produce prices would skyrocket. And every American farm would go out of business.

that's capitalism


i thought the Right loved the global market?


and I've expressed support for import tariffs and bans on all goods not deemed sweat-free in the past; this applies to agricultural exploitation as well as the sweatshops you might be familiar with

Don't know where you'd get the impression I was on the "Right".

 

[VaYank5150]

Wanna pay five bucks for a potato? End farm subsidies.

Now, ethanol subsidies? Kill them all.

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

You're right. And every American farm would go out of business.

If farm subsidies were ended, American made produce prices would skyrocket. And every American farm would go out of business.

So...farm subsidies are simply a form of Socialism? The Tea Baggers will be all over this. Wait until January. I am sure the new breed of conservative GOPers will put an end to this.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

We can import and resell potatoes much cheaper than $5.00 each. There is no basis to the claim that without my tax dollars subsidizing huge farming conglomerates, that food prices would skyrocket.

You're right. And every American farm would go out of business.

If farm subsidies were ended, American made produce prices would skyrocket. And every American farm would go out of business.

So...farm subsidies are simply a form of Socialism? The Tea Baggers will be all over this. Wait until January. I am sure the new breed of conservative GOPers will put an end to this.

If you consider "Socialism" to mean "Not a pure free market", than yes. Which is what most right wingers seem to think.

If you actually know what the word means, no.

 

[Granny]

Subsidies should be done away with and farmers should be able to grow crops or livestock of their choice. The American family farmers are disappearing fast - land that has been in a family for 200 or more years is going on the auction block along with all the equipment, any livestock or anything else on the land. The only entities capable of buying large tracts of land are the "front guys" for government - Big Ag. That's not the only way for land to be lost to private owners.

Look at what happened in California - environmentalists shut down an entire valley of farming to save some damned minnow from extinction. Give it a few years and that entire valley will be government owned or Big Ag owned - and surprise, surprise ... and in the meantime there will have been a way found to protect the minnows!! Right.

The whole idea is for all land to be owned by government in the name of "the people."

 

[Mr. Shaman]

It surely would make more sense to give them more options......

Other people seem to have managed, well enough.....

​

Hemp is too cheap; it'll put the paper mills out of business


that's 1/2 the reason it was made illegal, remember?

So we're part-time capitalists, huh??



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