Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview

In general, farm programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill channel federal funds to households whose incomes and wealth are well above those of the average US household. Many of those programs also create incentives for farm businesses to operate in ways that waste economic resources, and the owners...

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Autores principales: Smith, Vincent H., Glauber, Joseph W., Goodwin, Barry K., Sumner, Daniel A.
Formato: Informe técnico
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: American Enterprise Institute 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146291
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author Smith, Vincent H.
Glauber, Joseph W.
Goodwin, Barry K.
Sumner, Daniel A.
author_browse Glauber, Joseph W.
Goodwin, Barry K.
Smith, Vincent H.
Sumner, Daniel A.
author_facet Smith, Vincent H.
Glauber, Joseph W.
Goodwin, Barry K.
Sumner, Daniel A.
author_sort Smith, Vincent H.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In general, farm programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill channel federal funds to households whose incomes and wealth are well above those of the average US household. Many of those programs also create incentives for farm businesses to operate in ways that waste economic resources, and the owners and managers of those businesses respond accordingly. For example, the federal crop insurance program creates incentives for moral hazard behaviors that expand crop production on highly erodible land and affect the allocation of land between alternative crops. The US sugar program encourages beet and cane operations to expand production in ways that waste resources and increase the prices consumers pay for many food products. These and other programs—such as the price and income support initiatives introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill for major crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, and rice—also hurt world prices, creating challenges for the United States in its trade relations with other countries. Two of these programs, Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage, cost US taxpayers more than $8 billion in fiscal year 2017. Marketing orders for other commodities—including milk, fruits, and some vegetables—also distort production incentives, wasting land, labor, water, and other scarce resources. In addition, many conservation programs that pay farmers to adopt or continue conservation practices are poorly targeted and add little to the quality of the environment but in total cost taxpayers more than $5 billion a year. As Congress considers a new farm bill, members should seriously pay attention to proposals that terminate farm subsidy, marketing order, trade, and conservation programs, which waste scarce economic resources, raise food prices, and channel taxpayer monies to wealthy farmers, with few benefits for consumers or the environment, and which make no observable contributions to alleviating rural poverty.
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spelling CGSpace1462912025-04-08T18:34:16Z Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview Smith, Vincent H. Glauber, Joseph W. Goodwin, Barry K. Sumner, Daniel A. agricultural policies trade barriers crop insurance trade policies trade wto agricultural and rural legislation agricultural economics trade agreements agricultural trade In general, farm programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill channel federal funds to households whose incomes and wealth are well above those of the average US household. Many of those programs also create incentives for farm businesses to operate in ways that waste economic resources, and the owners and managers of those businesses respond accordingly. For example, the federal crop insurance program creates incentives for moral hazard behaviors that expand crop production on highly erodible land and affect the allocation of land between alternative crops. The US sugar program encourages beet and cane operations to expand production in ways that waste resources and increase the prices consumers pay for many food products. These and other programs—such as the price and income support initiatives introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill for major crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, and rice—also hurt world prices, creating challenges for the United States in its trade relations with other countries. Two of these programs, Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage, cost US taxpayers more than $8 billion in fiscal year 2017. Marketing orders for other commodities—including milk, fruits, and some vegetables—also distort production incentives, wasting land, labor, water, and other scarce resources. In addition, many conservation programs that pay farmers to adopt or continue conservation practices are poorly targeted and add little to the quality of the environment but in total cost taxpayers more than $5 billion a year. As Congress considers a new farm bill, members should seriously pay attention to proposals that terminate farm subsidy, marketing order, trade, and conservation programs, which waste scarce economic resources, raise food prices, and channel taxpayer monies to wealthy farmers, with few benefits for consumers or the environment, and which make no observable contributions to alleviating rural poverty. 2017 2024-06-21T09:06:30Z 2024-06-21T09:06:30Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146291 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148577 https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/agricultural-trade-aid-implications-and-consequences-for-us-global-trade-relationships-in-the-context-of-the-world-trade-organization/ https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147320 American Enterprise Institute Smith, Vincent H.; Glauber, Joseph W.; Goodwin, Barry K.; and Sumner, Daniel A. 2017. Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview. Agricultural Policy in Disarray Series Report. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute (AEI). https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/agricultural-policy-in-disarray-reforming-the-farm-bill-an-overview/
spellingShingle agricultural policies
trade barriers
crop insurance
trade policies
trade
wto
agricultural and rural legislation
agricultural economics
trade agreements
agricultural trade
Smith, Vincent H.
Glauber, Joseph W.
Goodwin, Barry K.
Sumner, Daniel A.
Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title_full Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title_fullStr Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title_short Agricultural policy in disarray: Reforming the farm bill—An overview
title_sort agricultural policy in disarray reforming the farm bill an overview
topic agricultural policies
trade barriers
crop insurance
trade policies
trade
wto
agricultural and rural legislation
agricultural economics
trade agreements
agricultural trade
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146291
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