New Farm Bill

A quote in this week's Farm Week news caught my eye.  I am not sure who it is attributed to, but the individual said he wants to reform, " the open ended nature of the government's support for crop insurance, so that agricultural producers assume the same kind of responsibility for managing risk that other businesses assume."

It would appear to me that this congressman is not at all familiar with the business aspects of agriculture and why farmers need taxpayer support to continue to provide us with the least expensive and safest food in the world.  I would like to ask him the following questions:

• Did you know that farmers are the only business that pays retail prices for inputs?
• Did you know that farmers sell their products at wholesale prices?
• Did you know that 2% are feeding 98% us and a large number of people around the world?
• Can you name another business that is so dependent on the weather?
• Is there any other industry that provides 23% of the jobs in the United States?
• Did you think the auto industry was too big to fail?
• Did you think the banking industry was too big to fail?
• If you take away the safety net will farms get bigger or smaller?
• Did you know that farmers already assume responsibility by paying crop insurance premiums?

If my readers have other questions, please feel free to add them to the comments section.  The above quote demonstrates why people in agriculture need to continue to remind politicians and the public why they need to support agriculture.