The Kind (D)/Ryan (R) Farm Bill Amendment was dumped by the Dimmies in the House before passage of the new Farm Bill.
...It came after Democrats quashed a rebellion from one of their own, Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who teamed with conservative GOP budget hawks and urban and suburban Democrats on an amendment to wean farmers from government payments. It would have imposed stricter income limits on farmers, barring subsidies to those making an average of $250,000 or more annually, and would have steered more money to conservation, nutrition, specialty crop and rural development programs. The amendment lost on a lopsided vote...
Sad.
As much hay as I've heard made about farmers' gains from record crop prices, I haven't heard anyone call attention to farmers' record INPUTS to get the product to market. Fuel for the tractors, land taxes, interest rates on the loans they take out for seed, crop insurance, fertilizer prices are all up. Health insurance, anyone? Plus you've got meth cooks siphoning off your anhydrous ammonia at night, and bankers siphoning off your wallet during the day.
ReplyDeleteSure, it's a lot easier to pick on Cargill, ADM (Archer Daniels Midland), and other large corporations, but the small and medium size operations are not making huge money.
Jimbob, that's what the Kind/Ryan amendment was all about.
ReplyDeleteTheir interest was in sustaining the small/medium farmer, not the 'corporate farms' or the tax-scammers.
OTOH, Jimbob, the cost of doing business rises for everyone, not just farmers. I, too, purchase fuel and healthcare.