Over at South Dakota Magazine, editor Bernie Hunhoff goes all "Harper's Index" on us and posts a list of South Dakota's rankings in various categories. One number that stands out: South Dakota ranks fourth in government payments per farm—$10,162.
That tidbit fits with the maps in this Iowa State University study which shows, based on 1990s data, an overlap between the states with highest per-farm income and farm employment and higher levels of government support.
So thank a farmer... for helping maintain South Dakota's status as a welfare state. And next time you're at a Tea Party, be sure to ask the fellas in the tri-corner hats if getting rid of all that dirty money from Uncle Sam includes eliminating the farm subsidies on which South Dakota agriculture survives.
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Update: But let's not paint all farmers with the welfare-queen brush. The 2007 Family Farm Report from the USDA Economic Research Service notes that the a majority of farms (61%) get no government help... and a disproportionate share of the farms that do are big operations raising traditional commodities.
"And next time you're at a Tea Party, be sure to ask the fellas in the tri-corner hats if getting rid of all that dirty money from Uncle Sam includes eliminating the farm subsidies on which South Dakota agriculture survives."
ReplyDeleteCory,
I thought we agreed a while back that farm subsidies helps big operatiors at the expense of small operators. So this is not helping the "small family farm" survival, but quite the opposite.
The only way to fix this is to stop all special interests from receiving federal money, including research facilities at univerisities. Are you on board Cory?
By your silence, I assume that you are not willing to reject federal funding to special interests that line your own pockets.
ReplyDelete