Educate me on Farm Subsidies!

[randy41]

Thanks, I stand corrected. But refresh my memory...is the size of Central Park the issue here, or is it the fact that our tax dollars are going to people who live in the most urban of all areas of this country where no agriculture could possibly take place?

rooftop gardens?

 

[dmccarty]

Thanks, I stand corrected. But refresh my memory...is the size of Central Park the issue here, or is it the fact that our tax dollars are going to people who live in the most urban of all areas of this country where no agriculture could possibly take place?

So people can't invest in a farm and have the tax subsidie go to their address in NYC? What difference does it matter where they live? Just because they don't live on the farm does not mean they don't have a farm. Or maybe they do live on the farm but the check is sent to someone who handles the money.

Seems like a non issue to me.

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

I think many of us take a dim view of these subsidies but how many of us, if we were eligible, would accept them? Or better yet, turn them down?

I only personally know of one farmer's experience with them. His (very wealthy) father ran their farm for the sole and single purpose of collecting subsidies. He never did and never wanted to make a profit from the farming operation. Once this farmer decided to stay and run the family farm, he voluntarily refused the subsidies and turned the farm around into a profitable operation.

What an oddball, huh? I mean, who would turn down free money? What would possess someone to go off of the dole? I think I remember him saying something about pride and civic responsibility. What a freak of nature.

 

[schmism]

Central Park Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - CentralPark.com

a lot more than that.

Ill see your Central park at 843 acers and raise you Forest park in ST louis, 1293 acers City of St. Louis: Forest Park

 

[swiftboot]

Nothing wrong with pride and responsibility, a noble stand to take i suspect. If we walk around our homes (and barns for that matter) look where many of the items were made or manufactured. When i was kid, most everything we had was made in USA, one was considered unamerican to purchase anything made in Japan. Old wound re slow to heal i guess, but i just bought a battery for my motorcycle Made in Viet Nam. But i digress....if one considers the cost of tillable or pasture land and then figure the income one would expect to make on that agriculture pursuit annually, most instances you will come up short of making a mortgage payment, much less if you trying to send kids to school etc. I am fortunate to be too old to see it happen, but one day our food will be stamped "grown in _______ " fill in the blank, but it wont be USA. The tree huggers and other enviormentalists, while they have honorable intentions, have managed to eliminate many of the pesticides, herbicides and other soil treatments to increase production in the USA. Trying real hard not to make this political, but in any arena where there is competition, the playing field should be level at the beginning. Me thinks the subsidies do help the farmer even if field lies barren, at least its not under concrete and asphalt which is the other alternative.

 

[WayneB]

I am not too sure how many people that respond to these type questions are actually full time farmers! I for one do a few farm things, but by no means am I a full time farmer. I do not request or receive and farm subsidies. Although I do have acreage in Present Use which reduces the taxes owed on the land. So I guess one could say I get government assistance.

If one had to pay taxes on the land at what it's value would be to develop the land there wouldn't be any farming. So having Present Use is a good thing to maintain what little farmland and wood lots are left in our state (New Hampshire).

There are several people, including our Governor that would like to remove the present use law and make people develop the land. I guess for the betterment of all the people! All we hear these days is cluster housing and develop the farm fields as they are wide open and easy to put roads in and build houses on.

I contend that farmers feed us three times a day and if they are getting a few benefits to stick it out and continue farming good for them.

The problem is the investors that are buying up farmland and getting the subsidies and not doing any farming at all. Some of these gentlemen farmers are sitting in Washington as representing us so I am fairly sure they are about to make any changes in the loop holes provided to them. I guess if one could stop the misuse and then we could leave the farmers alone.

 

[Podunkadunk]

My Grandfather was a full-time farmer in NW Florida. He grew soybeans, corn, peanuts and watermelons. Farm subsidizing wasn't around when he was farming. It's a shame too. My Grandmother recounts them going into the hole and having to borrow more from the local bank just to make ends meet. He would "make it up next year", pay off his previous and current loan and have a little left over to show a "profit". Fortunately, he never had 2 years in a row in which one of them wasn't productive enough to bail him out of his financial burdens.

He used to pray a lot, pray for rain...

He used to tell me: "Never talk about a Farmer with your mouth full"!

 

[Danno1]

.

I'll see you Forst Park and raise you Lynn Woods (~2200 ac):

City of Lynn, MA - Lynn Woods


.

 

[N80]

The tree huggers and other enviormentalists, while they have honorable intentions, have managed to eliminate many of the pesticides, herbicides and other soil treatments to increase production in the USA. Trying real hard not to make this political, but in any arena where there is competition, the playing field should be level at the beginning. Me thinks the subsidies do help the farmer even if field lies barren, at least its not under concrete and asphalt which is the other alternative.

Well, I don't think we can blame the tree huggers for the plight of the family farm. Now, you could certainly blame folks like ADM (industrialized farming) for driving the small farm out of existence, much like Walmart drives out small local businesses. I don't think the small businesses nor the farmers should get subsidies, ever. But before someone wants to lynch me, I do believe in an even playing field that makes it so the small businesses and farms can compete. There is a big difference between paying someone for their failure and making the competition fair. Paying for failure encourages failure (who could argue?). Fair competition encourages competition. I believe that corporations get tremendously unfair advantages through their ability to lobby for such advantages. This comes through numerous avenues, from tax laws, to regulatory bodies.

Now, I get taxed on my 250 acres at the agricultural rate (very low) for the simple reason that I have pine trees growing on it. I do consider this a tax advantage and I am willing to accept it. For one, it has nothing to do with success or failure and two, and more importantly, the 'ag rate' is based on a fair assessment of this rural, undeveloped land that currently has no potential for development and no infrastructure for development. I suspect that with a creative accountant or tax lawyer i could jockey to get subsidies.

I absolutely refuse to do that.

 

[riptides]

N80

And what happens when some pine beetle comes along and wipes you out.

Do you have the resources to start over?

-Mike Z.