farm subsidies

A farmer operates a combine to harvest soybeans in Wyanet, Ill. Farmers got more than $22 billion in government payments in 2019. It's the highest level of farm subsidies in 14 years.

Farmers Got Billions From Taxpayers In 2019, And Hardly Anyone Objected

6:17pm December 31, 2019

by Dan Charles

Farmers got more than $22 billion in government payments in 2019 — and most of the money came through a program that Congress never approved. It's the highest level of farm subsidies in 14 years.

Queue Listen Now

A tractor pulls a planter through a field as corn is planted in Princeton, Ill.

Congress and Farmers Are Shocked By Proposed USDA Cuts

5:21pm May 23, 2017

by Dan Charles

The Trump administration wants to cut both food aid to the poor and subsidies for the nation's farmers. Supporters of both programs are joining forces to fight the cuts in Congress.

Land in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota, as in much of the country, is dominated by farming.

We Pay Billions For Greener Farms, So What Does That Buy Us?

11:52am October 13, 2016

by Dan Charles

American farmers receive billions of dollars each year in "conservation payments" that are intended to protect the environment. Some environmentalists say the payments deserve scrutiny — and reform.

Surplus corn is piled outside a storage silo in Paoli, Colo. Do federal farm subsidies encourage the production — and perhaps overconsumption — of things that we're told to eat less of, like high fructose corn syrup or meat produced from livestock rai

Does Subsidizing Crops We're Told To Eat Less Of Fatten Us Up?

7:35pm July 18, 2016

by Allison Aubrey

There's a disconnect between what we're told to eat and what crops the U.S. subsidizes. Many critics blame farm policy for promoting bad eating habits. The reality is a lot more complicated.

Many farmers are selling unused or out-of-date equipment to make money in a year when grain prices are low.

National

With Economy Stuck In The Mud, Farmers Sink Deeper Into Debt

10:33am March 03, 2016

by Grant Gerlock

As farm income plummets, more producers are taking on outside jobs and borrowing from banks just to get by. But economists say the U.S. isn't yet repeating the farm crisis of the 1970s and '80s.

Arts

Farm Subsidies Persist And Grow, Despite Talk Of Reform

5:47pm February 01, 2016

by Dan Charles

The Farm Bill promised to cut subsidies to farmers. Instead, farmers will continue getting about $20 billion a year thanks to new programs that compensate farmers when corn and soybean prices fall.