Food Dialogues
Comment on Question
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Amidst shrinking government services and rising costs of living, consumers can afford to sustain healthier diets only if they have adequate and reliable incomes. How do the agricultural, food processing and retail industries plan to reconcile the decades-long decline in real wages within the food system and in returns to farmers with the record food prices and record profits that we have seen in the past four years?
Author: Yi Wang
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Topic: Food Affordability & Accessibliity
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21
Vote
Eliminating government subsidies to agribusinesses that are profitable without such help is a good place to start.
U.S. farmers have a long history of over-production. Subsidies played a role in that. Given current good prices and record profits, if the weather cooperates, it won't take long for U.S. farmers to be over-producing again. It is the nature of farmers to produce as much as they can.
But an important question is: would those crops be profitable without the subsidies? I know that Flax wouldn't be.
The trend started a century ago will continue, less labor and more equipment or technology capital. When I was in junior high, I hoed sugar beets to make money for summer camp alongside workers who hoed sugar beets for a living. Now, nobody hoes sugar beets. The germination rates have been improved as have the herbicides. That is an extreme example, but true of many crops.
When I was young, 100 cows was considered an economic unit, now ranch managers recommend 1000 cows per family. That works with the ATV, roundbaler and tractor with afrontend loader.