Criticism rains on Obama's farm subsidy cut idea

[Peikko 1,575]

Why should we subsidize farmers who can't profitably produce their products? If another country can produce the same food for less money, why shouldn't we just buy from them? Isn't that the whole idea of free trade?

It's a startling concept but one would assume that maybe the US doesn't have the correct climate to yield certain crops, such as tropical ones like sugar cane. But thanks to heavy regulations via import quotas, tax tariffs, and subsidies we enjoy paying 6X the world average for sugar. Japan does the same thing with rice. It's truly ridiculous.

We don't need to subsidize anything. If foreign competition forces prices down, and American farmers cannot compete, then it's time for them to make the cuts or adjustments necessary to be competitive or else get out of business. It's not time to force Americans to pay more to keep them in business. There is nothing fair or free about that.

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

I don't agree with those who think somehow farm land would turn into housing, but you can't simply turn farming 'on' and 'off' with market whims - farming doesn't work like a factory.

[mRx 16]

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

Allowing consumers access to cheaper goods of the same quality will not crush American production, but it will force it into more productive avenues.

[Peikko 1,575]

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

Allowing consumers access to cheaper goods of the same quality will not crush American production, but it will force it into more productive avenues.

? Like what? Farming is being forced into making decisions about food production now that are risky to say the least. Forcing farming even further down these avenues doesn't make much sense to me.

[mRx 16]

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

Allowing consumers access to cheaper goods of the same quality will not crush American production, but it will force it into more productive avenues.

? Like what? Farming is being forced into making decisions about food production now that are risky to say the least. Forcing farming even further down these avenues doesn't make much sense to me.

Like whatever the market demands. We don't need a country that must rely on self-sustainment. We have advanced past the autarkic days where the "survival of the fittest" model was applicable. If we can't grow certain crops for prices cheaper than other countries, then why grow them?

[Peikko 1,575]

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

Allowing consumers access to cheaper goods of the same quality will not crush American production, but it will force it into more productive avenues.

? Like what? Farming is being forced into making decisions about food production now that are risky to say the least. Forcing farming even further down these avenues doesn't make much sense to me.

Like whatever the market demands. We don't need a country that must rely on self-sustainment. We have advanced past the autarkic days where the "survival of the fittest" model was applicable. If we can't grow certain crops for prices cheaper than other countries, then why grow them?

No reason - except if they happen to be staple foods and the US can be held to ransom. Now that would be fun, wouldn't it?

[mRx 16]

There is something crazy going on with farming for sure - however, just allowing imports to crush all US agriculture would be a very strange thing to do - and of course potentially dangerous.

Allowing consumers access to cheaper goods of the same quality will not crush American production, but it will force it into more productive avenues.

? Like what? Farming is being forced into making decisions about food production now that are risky to say the least. Forcing farming even further down these avenues doesn't make much sense to me.

Like whatever the market demands. We don't need a country that must rely on self-sustainment. We have advanced past the autarkic days where the "survival of the fittest" model was applicable. If we can't grow certain crops for prices cheaper than other countries, then why grow them?

No reason - except if they happen to be staple foods and the US can be held to ransom. Now that would be fun, wouldn't it?

That's an absurd absolute. First, the US, like other countries has a climate advantage growing certain crops, like corn. We will probably always export corn, especially to Asia, where the weather isn't ideal. But that's not the case with rice, where countries in Asia would have the climate advantage, and it would be exported to us. But I'll play along with the absolute...

Even if we had no agricultural market, and relied solely on importation, because it was cheaper than growing at home, and if one country decided to cut off trading with us, and the product imported was a staple food, then that would create an immediate aggregate demand, and the price we'd be willing to pay would increase due to the demand. Other countries farmers would realize this opportunity to command an increased price for their product and would surely jump at it. Eventually the country that created the coercive embargo would realize that it did so at a loss, but that loss was realized as a gain by someone else. It's really simple, from the basic to the most complex market transactions, the principles of free trade remain sound.

[Peikko 1,575]

This is crops Matt, agriculture. You can't just stop and start production at the whim of the market place. Perhaps you need to understand the reality of farming a little more before you assume that people can just chop and change their product at the drop of the hat. Not to mention we already have examples of what can happen if price is the only dictator of what is and isn't grown.

[joelunchbox 0]

The GOP is all about cutting pork. Time to get serious, guys. Large business welfare here that should have been cut a long, long time ago - in fact, it should have never been allowed in the first place. Where's the self-reliance that the heartland always cries for?

you do like to eat, don't you? american farmers have been under the gun for quite a while due to imports.

US Cotton subsidies are a prime factor in keeping people in poverty in other nations.

You need to distinguish between AGRIBUSINESS and family farms. ADM for expample gets unneeded subsidies leaving the family farms to languish and die. Now, the question is, does this harm family farms? Are these gross figures or net figures? If they are NET, I don't think it is aimed at family farms.

[Ban Hammer 13,349]

The GOP is all about cutting pork. Time to get serious, guys. Large business welfare here that should have been cut a long, long time ago - in fact, it should have never been allowed in the first place. Where's the self-reliance that the heartland always cries for?

you do like to eat, don't you? american farmers have been under the gun for quite a while due to imports.

US Cotton subsidies are a prime factor in keeping people in poverty in other nations.

You need to distinguish between AGRIBUSINESS and family farms. ADM for expample gets unneeded subsidies leaving the family farms to languish and die. Now, the question is, does this harm family farms? Are these gross figures or net figures? If they are NET, I don't think it is aimed at family farms.

that was covered in et's post #5 and i agreed with him in post #6.