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Farm Subsidies Needed
in an Imperfect World
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My wife tells me I’m not perfect. Before I met my wife my mother would tell me I’m not perfect by cutting a switch off a bush and whipping my bare legs. Due to the reorganization of OSU Extension, my new supervisor will too, probably, tell me I’m not perfect.
Several years ago a young man by the name of Mac Davis cut a record about how hard it was for him to be humble because he was so perfect in every way. The song was so successful that he got his own television show. People were amused by the song because they realized perfection is virtually an impossibility. It would probably be a very boring world for many people if everything and everybody was perfect. However, most high school classes had at least one person who thought he or she was perfect. That person soon found out that they have a “bulls-eye” on their back and life would be easier admitting that one is not perfect. Perfection is an impossibility in this world. That’s why change is constantly occurring as people search for a better way. “Bulls-eyes” can also occur on things that are not perfect. One of those constant targets for people to take “pot-shots” at is government farm subsidies. Almost every paper in the nation during the year will critically address farm subsidies like this paper did on October 7, 2003, in an editorial. Farm policy is probably one of the most complicated pieces of legislation that exists today. The enormous complexity of U.S. farm policy exists because it is affected by policies of every country in the world. Every country is extremely concerned about it because people have to eat. Unless stomachs are full the present government is subject to a revolt and no one likes to give up their power. Farm subsidies exist because we live in an imperfect world where free trade is an illusion. The largest world protests occur in the city that is currently hosting the World Trade Organization. Trade is critical to the well-being of every country. In order to prosper as a country one must trade. The one commodity that everyone has to trade is food. All developing countries begin as agrarian societies because the basic need is food. Agriculture is the number one employer in most nations. Twenty-eight percent of all Ohio jobs is in the food industry. Protecting food is protecting jobs and this is what complicates farm policy. Europeans went hungry during World War II and they vowed never to rely on imports again to feed their people. They are willing to subsidize their farmers for food security. Trust me. It gets more complicated. Many of the WTO protests are directed at the environment. Many environmentalists do not want to see rainforest and grasslands taken out for crop production in South America, Argentina and Africa. Yet, their governments realize that this land is very competitive in crop production and can help produce jobs, trade and money for “cash-starved” countries. Thus, they stand ready to sacrifice the future for the present. U.S. farm subsidies exist because other countries can afflict disadvantages on the competitiveness of American farmers. An example is a new technology developed by Monsanto called Roundup Ready soybeans. Monsanto spent millions of dollars developing a soybean gene that would allow the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup) to be sprayed on a soybean field and kill all weeds except the soybean plant. This resulted in a cheap herbicide program that made farmers who use it more competitive. To recover the research and development costs of this new technology, Monsanto charges a tech fee on every bushel of Roundup Ready seed beans and corn. Our number one competitor in the world soybean market is Brazil. The Brazilian government passed a law that Monsanto could not charge the tech fee to their farmers; thus putting U.S. producers at a disadvantage in the world market. Since most of the U.S. seed beans are grown during our winter in Brazil, Monsanto had no options except to accept Brazil’s ultimatum. Trade wars occur between most nations. We have a huge China trade deficit and the major reason is their unwillingness to open their borders to U.S. food commodities while we continue to import their cheap toys and clothes. Politically, China has to be handled with “kid-gloves” at the expense of our farmers. I can assure you that American farmers do not enjoy all the paperwork that comes with farm subsidies. They spend days at the Farm Service Agency filling out all the required forms. Even though our local FSA staff is composed of great and friendly people, our farmers would rather never have to go there for subsidy payments. Please remember that farmers have no control over world commodity prices, other governmental interferences, world trade policies and the weather. In my opinion, farm subsidies are a necessary evil to ensure a food supply for our 290 million people. Our imperfect world is responsible for this. I repeat, free trade is an illusion. Farm policy is so complex that world peace will occur before true free trade happens. Thank a farmer today for the tremendous food supply and food value that exists today because of his work ethic, perseverance, willingness to take huge risks and willingness to fill out all that paper work at the FSA office. Thanks to our farmers, we spend less for food than any other nation in the world. That is not only good, that is great. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 Updated: October 2003 |