Value of farmland going up in the Midwest
read more recent story comments Reader comments| Ed Sunday, September 19, 2010: 7:33 am More from Ed  | Total USDA Subsidies in Morgan County, Indiana, 2009 Subsidy Recipients 1 to 20 of 598 Recipients of Total USDA Subsidies from farms in Morgan County, Indiana totaled $4,189,000 in in 2009. Rank Recipient (* ownership information available) Location Total USDA Subsidies 2009 1 Indy Family Farms Greenwood, IN 46142 $107,002 2 Lankford Farms Inc ∗ Martinsville, IN 46151 $52,540 3 Cragen Farms LLC ∗ Martinsville, IN 46151 $45,444 4 Brent Milhon Martinsville, IN 46151 $40,000 5 Barnard Farms Inc ∗ Martinsville, IN 46151 $38,840 6 Jack Cook Farms Inc ∗ Clayton, IN 46118 $38,832 7 Mike And Jeff Buis Partnership ∗ Martinsville, IN 46151 $38,116 8 Tom Conner Farms LLC Mooresville, IN 46158 $37,806 9 Kenneth Shupe Stilesville, IN 46180 $37,518 10 Thomas Grain Inc ∗ Gosport, IN 47433 $37,099 11 Rhea Farms Inc ∗ Clayton, IN 46118 $34,701 12 D & M Cook Farms Inc ∗ Clayton, IN 46118 $32,224 13 William M Duckworth Paragon, IN 46166 $30,028 14 Rebecca Leigh Moore Clayton, IN 46118 $29,559 15 Joseph M Dallas Morgantown, IN 46160 $29,483 16 Cragen Grain Co LLC Martinsville, IN 46151 $28,184 17 Gore Grain Corporation ∗ Monrovia, IN 46157 $26,999 18 Thomas Family Farms Inc ∗ Gosport, IN 47433 $25,373 19 Greg Gore Monrovia, IN 46157 $25,254 20 Rick Fluke Martinsville, IN 46151 $25,099 * USDA data are not "transparent" for many payments made to recipients through most cooperatives. Recipients of payments made through most cooperatives, and the amounts, have not been made public. Thanks Lugar! Where's mine? |
| Liberty Sunday, September 19, 2010: 10:54 am More from Liberty | Hey Ed, What are the subsidy payments for? Is it welfare or is it in exchange for something ? |
| Ed Sunday, September 19, 2010: 12:31 pm More from Ed | To the best of my knowledge, some farm operators are reimbursed for "loss". I have also that there are farm operators who are paid NOT to farm. I am not versed in this local phenomenon, however I am acquainted with a person who resides in Oklahoma and owns 1,000's of acres blessed with an abundance of oil wells. This friend has been paid by the US government NOT to allow the "pumps" to operate/pump oil, other than a designated amount for his own use. The well pumps are locked and equipped with monitored GPS equipment (installed by the government). His family is paid extremely well by subsidy NOT to "farm" oil and has been for at least the past 10 years that I am aware of. I do not understand the motive behind the government for this subsidy, as it seem ludicrous to me. I do know, however that Senator Richard Lugar is THE largest proponent of this subsidy, as he is a farm operator himself. |
| Ed Sunday, September 19, 2010: 12:33 pm More from Ed | Sorry for the that poorly written post. I was in a hurry. Hope it made sense. |
| Ed Sunday, September 19, 2010: 1:41 pm More from Ed | Here you go Liberty: Why Do Farmers Get Subsidies? By Jonita Davis, eHow Contributor .updated: July 13, 2010 A subsidy is money given to help a business. A farm subsidy is an economic tool that governments use to influence prices and maintain the food supply. The funds are often given in the form of a grant or cash payment to the business. Some subsidies are in the form of zero- or low-interest loans. Traditionally, farmers receive cash payments each year. These payments or subsidies are issued for several reasons. Significance 1.Farm subsidies are given for various reasons. Governments use them as a tool to control market prices, which are affected by natural disasters, severe weather conditions, supply shortages and surpluses, and other events that affect the national food supply. The U.S. government uses the subsidy to ensure that food is accessible to every American. Advantages 2.Farm subsidies work (http://www.ehow.com/careers/) as not only a price control, but also as cushion for small farms. The cash payments make up for the money lost during the years of a bad crop. Disaster payments are especially helpful, as they are like insurance on crops destroyed by floods, tornadoes, a freeze, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Disadvantages 3.The subsidies work as a price control by paying farmers to leave fields unplanted in times when the market is experiencing a surplus. Instead of using the excess crops to feed the needy, the farmers are not growing, yet being paid to do so. Farm subsidies also inhibit the normal market cycle. With the exception of disaster payments, the cash from farm subsidies prevent the normal fluctuation in price due to supply and demand. This makes the price completely dependent on government intervention, according to the Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidy Primer. Types of Payments 4.Farm subsidies are paid in the form of direct cash payments, which go only to producers of grains and certain crops like peanuts. Countercyclical payments are those that pay farmers for practices that go against the normal economic cycle. Conservation subsidies repay farmers to leave specific farmlands unplanted in order to preserve habitats, for example. Insurance and disaster aid subsidies help farmers who have experienced severe crop damage or loss due natural disasters, pests and, for some, even market prices. Legislation 5.Farm subsidies began with the Agricultural Credits of 1923. The legislation was implemented to boost prices after World War I, when the overproduction during the war caused a surplus and price drop afterward. In 1929, the Agricultural Marketing Act created the Federal Farm Board, which actively sought to control the prices of cotton and grains. That venture failed, but the New Deal brought the Agricultural Adjustment Act in 1933. This time the government gave farmers quotas for planting and physically took surplus crops of the market. The Commodity Credit Corporation was created to give loans to farmers who agreed to the price controls. Today, the federal government is leaning more toward reducing subsidies and creating price supports in other ways. References •InvestorDictionary.com: Subsidy •Environmental Working Group: Farm Subsidy Primer •Questia: Farm Subsidies •"The Washington Post": Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don't Farm |
| Cerberus Sunday, September 19, 2010: 1:50 pm More from Cerberus | Generally speaking, the goal of agriculture subsidies is to regulate prices, control supply (based on demand, both domestic and foreign), and to insulate markets from situational fluctuation (weather conditions, differential pricing among crops and regions, pressure from imported goods). Ed, you are correct that some reimbursements are to not plant/harvest certain crops given market conditions. Likewise, other reimbursements are to offset "losses" on crops that either do not have a competitive margin (poor market conditions, depressed pricing due to over supply, or natural disasters) or the investment of capital is too great in the early years to produce a profit. IMHO, broad based subsidies are needed to provide a means of market regulation and as an incentive for diversification of crops and growers. Is the current system as effective as it could be? No. Could it be improved? Yes. The United States has one of the most stable and robust food chains in the world. I would like to see farmers complete on an even playing field without subsides like the rest of the world and occupations, but I am not willing to gamble with our food chain. I would agree that vast improvements could be made in the system, but I have yet to see any party present a logical or workable plan to remove subsides without jeopardizing one of the worlds most efficient and robust supply chains. |
| Liberty Sunday, September 19, 2010: 8:21 pm More from Liberty | Thanks Ed, nice post |
| Lassiter Monday, September 20, 2010: 12:12 am More from Lassiter | Ed.. A little info I thought you may find interesting. The number 1 in Morgan county in 09, Indy family farms, (AKA Richards) was #13 in the state in 09 at $173,455.00 Please note that there are no conservation subsidies. That used to be called the "set aside" program which was generally discontinued many years ago. Most of the subsidies are commodity subsidies which are a relationship on yield basis and price. Heres a breakdown for the last 15 years: Richards Farms received payments totaling $2,022,506 from 1995 through 2009 Year Conservation Subsidies Disaster Subsidies Commodity Subsidies Total USDA Subsidies 1995-2009 cons. Disaster commodity Total USDA 1995 $0 $0 $0 $0 1996 $0 $0 $44,967 $44,967 1997 $0 $0 $30,266 $30,266 1998 $0 $0 $87,389 $87,389 1999 $0 $440 $152,610 $153,050 2000 $0 $5,287 $142,262 $147,549 2001 $0 $0 $166,167 $166,167 2002 $0 $0 $17,722 $17,722 2003 $0 $44,728 $134,856 $179,584 2004 $0 $0 $142,317 $142,317 2005 $0 $168,130 $331,221 $499,351 2006 $0 $0 $271,267 $271,267 2007 $0 $0 $109,422 $109,422 2008 $0 $59,860 $113,595 $173,455 2009 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total $0 $278,445 $1,744,061 $2,022,506 Crop Summary for Richards Farms Crop Payments 1995-2009 Corn Subsidies** $1,445,390 Soybean Subsidies** $235,223 Wheat Subsidies** $63,364 Counties where payments were made from County Subsidy Payments 1995-2009 Owen County, Indiana $70,298 Johnson County, Indiana $1,298,980 Marion County, Indiana $187,906 Morgan County, Indiana $465,323 Total $2,022,506 |
| Lassiter Monday, September 20, 2010: 12:14 am More from Lassiter | BTW, for this breakdown in HTML please Click Here |
| spell-check Monday, September 20, 2010: 10:46 am More from spell-check | At least farmers are out actually working for their government payments. Is there a website that shows welfare/food stamp recipients and how much they receive? If there isn't, there should be. |
| Ratcatcher Monday, September 20, 2010: 4:56 pm More from Ratcatcher | AMEN, spell-check! They should be required to perform a few hours of some sort of community service if they can't find a job. How 'bout picking up trash on the side of the road, working at a local school or mowing the grass at the library to name a few. |
| Ed Monday, September 20, 2010: 5:08 pm More from Ed | spell-check, Below is an excerpt from an article regarding farm subsidies along with the link to the full story. Most of the money goes to real farmers who grow crops on their land, but they are under no obligation to grow the crop being subsidized. They can switch to a different crop or raise cattle or even grow a stand of timber -- and still get the government payments. The cash comes with so few restrictions that subdivision developers who buy farmland advertise that homeowners can collect farm subsidies on their new back yards. The payments now account for nearly half of the nation's expanding agricultural subsidy system, a complex web that has little basis in fairness or efficiency. What began in the 1930s as a limited safety net for working farmers has swollen into a far-flung infrastructure of entitlements that has cost $172 billion over the past decade. In 2005 alone, when pretax farm profits were at a near-record $72 billion, the federal government handed out more than $25 billion in aid, almost 50 percent more than the amount it pays to families receiving welfare. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/01/AR2006070100962.html |
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