Mood Swings for Farmers

Today I am having a real hard time as I think of all those industrial farmers who use the scarce land of this earth to grow corn for the "bio-fuel" industry.  To just imagine all those acres of land potentially sitting idle... Sigh

Oh but wait!  Congress has bailed them out to!  OMG Why didn't I think of such a scheme earlier... Oh I feel so much better now, especially when I pay my taxes!  I am helping them to!

From FDA website (note the highlighted pennies given to feeding those who need it vs absolutely no details on the $16 billion).

1. Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers: The program will provide $16 billion in direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted and will assist producers with additional adjustment and marketing costs resulting from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19.
2. USDA Purchase and Distribution: USDA will partner with regional and local distributors, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat. We will begin with the procurement of an estimated $100 million per month in fresh fruits and vegetables, $100 million per month in a variety of dairy products, and $100 million per month in meat products. The distributors and wholesalers will then provide a pre-approved box of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to food banks, community and faith based organizations, and other non-profits serving Americans in need.

On top of these targeted programs USDA will utilize other available funding sources to purchase and distribute food to those in need.

• USDA has up to an additional $873.3 million available in Section 32 funding to purchase a variety of agricultural products for distribution to food banks. The use of these funds will be determined by industry requests, USDA agricultural market analysis, and food bank needs.
• The FFCRA and CARES Act provided an at least $850 million for food bank administrative costs and USDA food purchases, of which a minimum of $600 million will be designated for food purchases. The use of these funds will be determined by food bank need and product availability.

But you know... The important part is below:

In total, $16 billion will be handed directly to farmers, of which $9.6 billion goes to the livestock industry. This funding will be given largely as reimbursements for “losses” and will not be contingent upon providing food to those in need.

Wait!  Doesn't it look like the dusted off last years bill and just copied it and renamed it?  That was $16 billion to!

From 25 July 2019 This week, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue unveiled details of the latest aid package for farmers who've lost export sales. It includes $14.5 billion in direct payments to farmers, another $1.4 billion in government purchases of agricultural commodities that will be distributed to food banks, and $100 million in loose change to promote exports to new countries. This is on top of $12 billion in aid that the Trump administration distributed last year.

Uh, what?  There was another $12 billion doled out in 2018?  I am starting to feel elated now... So much so cause this most recent bill includes lots of money for "meat" farmers cause they need it since grain prices must be crumbling now with all that corn that can't be turned into fuel...

So, by not allowing market forces to adjust in 2018 and 2019 to the lower demand from the trade war and encouraging industrial farmers (smaller farmers and organic farmers and others that fed directly into the US food supply have been largely unaffected) to alter behavior, we now are throwing tons of food away... Plus farmers cashed out on earning more then market prices adjusted with the government program!  WOW, I am so happy now... Wait this looks like good old buying votes with taxpayer money!  Hmm

Farmers will receive payments simply based on how much land they've planted with crops that are affected by tariffs, how much milk they produce or how many hogs they own. "We want sign-up to be easy for producers [and] straightforward," said Bill Northey, undersecretary for farm production and conservation, "[so] that we can get these payments to them to address the challenges that they have due to these tariffs."

In his remarks, Perdue (WAIT PERDUE?  HAHA is this the chicken farmer?)  portrayed the payments as a modest contribution toward the enormous losses that farmers have endured.

Agricultural economists, however, disagreed. "This is going to be a lot of money pumped into the Corn Belt," said Scott Irwin at the University of Illinois.

According to the new study, Chinese tariffs caused the price of soybeans grown in the U.S. to drop by $.78 per bushel. Last year's aid package, however, paid farmers more than twice that much — $1.65 per bushel of soybeans that each farmer produced.

Now I am just confused again... I was hurting, elated and now confused by all this... What an emotional swing.  I love it so much and I have not even left my kitchen table!!