Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: American farmers still lean hard on government aid, and instead of rising export

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jeffery Blake" <echoecho AT bedford.heartland.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: American farmers still lean hard on government aid, and instead of rising export
  • Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:46:25 -0500


Minmum wage is a quarantee by the government of a set amount of money no
matter how bad a job you do.

Farm policy is a little complicated. I realize everyone likes to blame the
government for all our problems, but there is no easy answer to farm policy.

It is folly to believe that we as a nation could exist as a thriving economy
with a laize-faire farm economy.

There have been many adverse effects to our various farm policies throughout
the last century such as artificially elevating land prices, encouraging
monculture crop production, encouraging consolidation, etc. But we seldom
give any thought to what farm policy has accomplished.

Price floors on farm commodities have negated the negetive effects of the
markets on the economy. Such price swings are what caused the serious
economic depressions of the late 1880s and early 1900s. These depressions
on a cycle of about every 12 years kept agricultural productivity down, and
today would do more to promote consolidation than any government programs
do. (Witness the no-policy results of the hog industry)

The result of no price floors on farm commodities would be the crumbling of
our American economy. Despite idealist dreams to the contrary, that will
never happen.

I am no agricultural fundamentalist, but the farm economy has fingers
running through the total economy, and commodity prices have major effects
on food prices in the grocery store in a free market system.

What we should hope for is a restructuring of the farm program to support
sustainablity and to discourage consolidation. But there absolutely has to
be some type of support to ensure the market dosen't bankrupt farmers in a
down cycle.

Price floors are currently set well below cost of production now. You
cannot compare the farm economy to the business economy-it doesn't work the
same way.







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page