U.S. crop insurance a post-election target

The federal government will likely shell out $15 billion or more for its share of crop losses caused by drought

Reuters – Federally subsidized crop insurance will be a big target for U.S. lawmakers looking to cut the budget deficit in the lame-duck session of Congress that opened recently after a status quo general election. But lawmakers aren’t expected to break their deadlock over enacting a five-year, $500-billion Farm Bill covering a wide range of

A new era for business risk management

Farm leaders expected the drop in AgriStability reference margins announced at last week’s federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting, but the fine print was another matter. Not only is the AgriStability trigger being increased from a 15 per cent to a 30 per cent drop in the farmer’s reference margin, there is a sleeper clause that apparently


Province active in Growing Forward discussions A letter (“Where is the vision?” July 5) from the PC member from Midland, Blaine Pedersen, failed to provide Manitobans and producers in our province with helpful information when it comes to Growing Forward 2. Growing Forward is often referred to as the single most important Agricultural Policy Framework

China’s agricultural future: Adopt developed technologies

China is a grudging importer of corn and pork, preferring instead to increase domestic production 


As the most populous nation on Earth, China has intermittently been seen as the solution to the problem created by the ability of U.S. farmers to produce more than they can sell at a profitable price. Sometimes the discussion is focused on cotton; at other times it is corn or soybeans. Today, it is pork


EU looking to put the brakes on subsidy gravy train

British farmers will receive smaller subsidies in coming years, U.K. Farming Minister Jim Paice said, adding he favoured its eventual abolition as global food prices rise. “The single farm payment is going to go down,” said Paice, referring to the expected outcome of negotiations about the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy after 2013. Senior EU officials

EU Reform Plans Target Greener, Fairer Farm Subsidies

European Union officials want to make farm subsidies fairer and more environmentally friendly, in a bid to win support for keeping annual agricultural spending at about 55 billion euros (US$75 billion) up to 2020. Critics of the bloc s common agricultural policy (CAP) had urged the European Commission to take advantage of high global food


EU Reforms Needed To Keep Young Farmers On The Land

Tracts of countryside in Spain are likely to turn into desert or waste dumps unless the European Union provides enough support to young farmers to stop them from leaving the land for the city. Measures to support young farmers will be part of draft proposals due on Oct. 12 for overhauling the bloc s controversial

Time To Overhaul, Not Tinker With Farm Programs

It’s time to stop tinkering and undertake a major overhaul of farm support programs, according to the executive director of the George Morris Centre. A discussion paper released after a recent meeting of agriculture ministers “seems to contemplate only modest changes if any to the status quo policy environment,” Bob Seguin wrote in a recent


Global Grain Reserve Idea Gaining Momentum – for May. 5, 2011

During the decade from 1996 to 2006, the world became accustomed to stable crop production levels. Production problems in one part of the world were balanced out by increased production elsewhere. In such a world it was easy to argue that reserves were unnecessary, because there would always be someone with a supply they were

U.S. Budget May Cut Farm Subsidies

Farm subsidies could be cut as part of efforts to reduce federal spending, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid March 8, pointing to high grain, soybean and cotton prices. Reid was the latest congressional leader to say farm subsidies could be a target for budget cuts. House Speaker John Boehner said last week he was