Agriculture in the United States
Financial Support for Agriculture
All information provided here is the work of the Agriculture Study Committee of the LWV of the United States (LWV) and is underwritten by the LWV Education Fund. This information is provided as unbiased background information for the Agriculture Update Study conducted by the LWV, 2012-2014. All papers are linked to and descriptions of the papers are quoted from this LWV website Please visit that website for complete information about the League's agriculture position update.(Click a topic below to access that information.)
Overview of Agricultural Subsidy
The federal government supports the agricultural sector through a variety of direct and indirect subsidies. The direct subsidies are the ones that get the most attention in the press and in Congress, as they tend to involve some type of direct payment to farmers. The government also indirectly subsidizes agriculture through its funding of activities such as agricultural research and development, extension programs, and maintaining agricultural databases.
Read this paper.
Read this paper.
Overview of Crop Insurance
Crop Insurance is legislated under Title XII of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (H.R. 6124) (Farm Bill) and will be a separate title under the new Farm Bill once such legislation is passed. For Crop Insurance, the Farm Bill amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act (the Act) in Section 7 of the U.S. Code (U.S.C.). There are currently two types of crop insurance available to United States farmers and ranchers: Federal crop insurance programs, generally discussed as multiple-peril crop insurance (MPCI), and crop insurance products that are developed and underwritten solely by private insurance companies (private products) and are not subsidized by any entity.
Read this paper.
Read this paper.