If you read the report we released along with FactoryFarmMap.org, you know that the payments that the government makes to farmers allowing them to sell their soy and corn for less than the costs of production (read our farm bill report if you want to understand how we got into that mess) acts as an indirect subsidy for gigantic animal livestock operations, also known as factory farms.  These facilities are so big that they can't possibly grow their own livestock feed, and we report that, if factory farms paid as much for corn and soy as it costs to grow, their overall cost of production would increase by 7 to 10 percent.

Now what industry wouldn't mind a 10 percent subsidy from the government?  But apparently, that's not enough.  Big Ag would wants in on a little program called the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.  EQIP is a conservation program run by the USDA that gives grants to farms to improve their environmental practices. There is a proposed amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill that would remove the cap on what size farms (as determined by their annual income) are eligible for the program’s funding, and would allow large factory farms to receive grants to build systems for managing the vast amounts of manure their operations generate.

This proposal would be an unfair subsidy for operations that use unsustainable practices and rob small farms of desperately needed funds that could help them make their practices better. Think that stinks worse than a manure lagoon (and those are pretty bad)?  Then there's no time like right now for expressing your dismay to your member of Congress.

And, if you haven't checked out FactoryFarmMap.org, what are you waiting for?