Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers

"The government is bailing out the banks...but who's going to bail out the government?" asks Texas cotton farmer Ken Gallaway, a vocal critic of agricultural subsidies that cost U.S. taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars a year in direct payments and higher prices for farm goods.

Agricultural subsidies were put in place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when 25 percent of Americans lived on farms. At the time, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace called them "a temporary solution to deal with an emergency." Those programs are still in place today, even though less than 1 percent of Americans currently live on farms that are larger, more efficient, and more productive than ever before.

Consider these facts. Ninety percent of all subsidies go to just five crops: corn, rice, cotton, wheat, and soybeans. Two thirds of all farm products—including perishable fruits and vegetables—receive almost no subsidies. And just 10 percent of recipients receive 75 percent of all subsidies. A program intended to be a temporary solution has become one of our governments most glaring examples of corporate welfare.

U.S. taxpayers arent the only ones who pay the price. Cotton subsidies, for example, encourage overproduction which lowers the world price of cotton. Thats great for people who buy cotton, but its disastrous for already impoverished cotton farmers in places such as West Africa.

U.S. farm programs cost taxpayers billions each year, significantly raise the price of commodities such as sugar (which is protected from competition from other producers in other countries), undermine world trade agreements, and contribute to the suffering of poor farmers around the world. Its bad public policy, especially in these troubled economic times.

"Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers" is hosted by Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie and is approximately 8.30 minutes long. The producer-writer is Paul Feine and the producer-editor is Roger Richards.

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[Transitiving]

why single out democrats? they dont pay $26 million to republicans for nothing.

[zzx2847]

Good video. It's an archaic system that we have, that stifles growth and competition, while costing taxpayers enormous amounts of money. If we didn't have these subsidies we would see technology advance in farming techniques that would benefit the world, but instead we are just shooting ourselves in the foot.

[Natkeeran]

Wow finally reason.tv is putting out the dirty laundry of the hypocrite far right.

[madass888]

Since New Zealand ended their farm subsidies their farm industry has been booming. And the percentage of family farms has actually risen. Obama is a fraud.

[lvll138inrs]

protectionism in any form is extremely harmful. they just should lower corporate tax rates instead of giving subsidies

[FireweedFarm]

The facts here are wrong. There were no subsidies in Depression era farm programs & those programs do not continue today, they ended in 1995. The basic programs don’t bail out failing farm businesses, they bail out hugely successful grain buyers by keeping prices below farmers costs most of the time. We lose on exports for them. After years of this, farmers got subsidies for covering of the losses. Your ideology of free trade makes you antibusiness, pro corporate welfare (below cost gains).

[FRSFreeStateNow]

Agriculture Subsidies represent something like 40B$ a year out of the Federal Budget. Which comes directly out of general Tax Payer Revenue. If we forced farmers to pay Farming Insurance then we could save 40B$ a year off of our Debt.

[javierar87]

A study by the University of Michigan found that if all trade barriers in agriculture, services, and manufactures were reduced by 33% as a result of the Doha Development Agenda, there would be an increase in global welfare of $574.0 billion.[47] A 2008 study by World Bank Lead Economist Kym Anderson[48] found that global income could increase by more than $3000 billion per year, $2500 billion of which would go to the developing world.

[Djarms67]

don't worry congress will bail government out.

[FireweedFarm]

The Depression era farm programs have been weakened since 1953, and were ended in 1996. The original programs had no subsidies for crops like corn, rice and wheat.

[whoo689]

@whoo689 is much less today than it was when these programs were first started. Esp. in boom times. Not comparing the necessity of a gov't program or the alleged poverty of certain demographic groups in different economic periods is a no-brainer!

[whoo689]

@whoo689 Programs that started during the Great Depression, like farm subsidies and SS, should REALLY be reexamined.  I mean, you can't honestly compare the economic situation of the country with that of today. Of course farmers were on hard times, as well as seniors. It was a pretty bad fucking time for almost all Americans. But to say that because they were "needed" in a huge downturn, they're still needed is just silly. I think the amount of seniors or farmers who truly need them