Retooling agricultural policy for greater sustainability
Excerpt
AS we look forward toward the dawn of the ext century, it is worth looking back at he changes in agriculture that have occurred during this century.
American agriculture has witnessed hat has been called a “Green Revolution.” Crop yields have increased dramatically as capital, technology and energy have been substituted for labor and land as farm inputs-Fewer farmers feed more people more cheaply than ever before. An American cornucopia has been created that is the envy of the planet.
But this increased productivity has come at a cost. A cost that the public and even many of my fellow farmers are now questioning.
One of the costs is direct. Federal farm support programs this year will cost taxpayers more than $40 million a day. Few Americans understand what they get for this expense of direct payments and many more millions in hidden subsidies. Most of it is paid to a handful of producers, while the institution of the family farm is threatened. Meanwhile, there is evidence that the expenditure actually …
Footnotes
American Farmland Trust
- Copyright 1993 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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