Farm policy disaster
Farm policy disaster
The American agricultural industry as a whole is in big trouble. Mistakes made by a previous administration are still being felt, and are compounding with mistakes made by the current administration to hurt America's farmers even more.
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Missouri cattle producer Skylar Holden posted a series of videos on TikTok, saying he had signed a contract with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service for $240,000 for improved water lines, fences and a well.
But USDA officials called him recently to tell him his contract with NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, was frozen, he said. It's not clear when the funds will be released, Holden said in his video
"I've already done a bunch of the work, already paid for the material and the labor, so I'm out all that cost," Holden said in one video, adding, "We are possibly going to lose our farm if NRCS doesn't hold up their contract with us."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/usda-freezes-farmer-funding-programs-005520018.html
Note: this farmer voted for trump
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You might think that was so long ago it's not relevant to the current situation.
Farm Aid: 40 Years of Action for Family Farmers and the Good Food Movement In the 1980s, family farmers faced a crisis the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Great Depression. Plummeting farm product prices and land values, rising interest rates, troubled credit markets and unfair lending practices pushed tens of thousands of farms out of business, forcing millions of people off their land.
It was in this context that Willie Nelson, joined by John Mellencamp and Neil Young, organized a groundbreaking concert in 1985 to raise awareness and funds to help America’s family farmers, sparking a family farm movement that continues to this day.
That continues to this day. That's because the American agricultural industry never completely recovered from Reagan's supply-side economics. Did the "free market" eventually adjust to create the most efficient and best system for American agriculture?
No. The most expensive farm subsidies ever and Willie Nelson's charity concerts combined did not get things back to pre Reagan levels.
History rhymes: farmers voted for Reagan, farmers voted for Trump. It's happening again, but this time it will be worse.