Please leave this field empty
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
  • About
  • Problems
  • Campaigns
  • Impacts
  • Research
  • Contact
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
  • facebook
  • twitter
Please leave this field empty
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
$
Menu
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Search
Please leave this field empty
  • facebook
  • twitter

Farm Subsidies 101

Ending farm programs won’t fix the problems in our food supply. Making farm programs work better could.

Download Fact Sheet
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • google-plus
  • envelope

We all need safe food and clean water.

Donate
02.21.11

Whether the topic is obesity, climate change or even the budget deficit, there are few debates these days when U.S. farm policy doesn’t get mentioned. One popular recommendation to fix our farm policy is slashing payments to farmers entirely, or redirecting that money into other programs. Proponents of this approach claim it would encourage farmers to shift to crops other than corn or soybeans and would protect the environment. It’s an appealing concept — save money and stop promoting industrial agriculture at the same time. The problem is, when it comes to the food system, it’s never quite that simple. 

Farm programs were developed to provide a safety net for farmers to blunt the effects of wild price swings that are unique to agriculture. While the demand for food remains fairly steady, the supply of food is vulnerable to droughts, floods, pests or unusually good seasons with high yields. All of these factors can create volatility in the price farmers are paid for their crops. Other factors, like the increasing consolidation in agriculture, which has led to fewer buyers at every step of the food chain, have further complicated the market that farmers sell into and make it harder for them to get a fair price for their crops. 

Individual farmers often respond to low crop prices by planting more acres of the crop, which then increases the supply and drives prices lower. Well-designed farm programs can moderate price volatility and stabilize farm incomes by creating a floor for crop prices, stopping the cycle of overproduction. But our current farm programs do nothing to stop the downward spiral of crop prices and the resulting overproduction by farmers trying to make up for low prices with higher volume. Farm program payments are not the main reason that U.S. farmers grow lots of corn and soybeans. Farmers plant crops that are in demand by the largest buyers — graintrading companies like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland, meatpackers and feedlots that feed corn and soybeans to livestock, and food manufacturers that use soybeans and corn in processed foods. The buyers of these crops are the real beneficiaries of farm payments, because government payments to farmers allow these buyers to pay less for the crops that are their raw materials.

Ending farm programs won’t fix the problems in our food supply. Making farm programs work better could.

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Monsanto's Roundup is a "probable human carcinogen." We need to ban it!

Get the latest on your food and water with news, research and urgent actions.

Please leave this field empty

Latest News

  • Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

    Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

  • Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

    Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

  • Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

    Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

See More News & Opinions

For Media: See our latest press releases and statements

Food & Water Insights

Looking for more insights and our latest research?

Visit our policy & research library
  • Renewable Natural Gas: Same Ol' Climate-Polluting Methane, Cleaner-Sounding Name

  • The Case to Ban Fracking on Federal Lands

  • Dangerously Deep: Fracking’s Threat to Human Health

Fracking activist with stickersFracking activist in hatLegal team loves family farmsFood & Water Watch organizer protecting your food

Work locally, make a difference.

Get active in your community.

Food & Water Impact

  • Victories
  • Stories
  • Facts
  • Trump, Here's a Better Use for $25 Billion

  • Here's How We're Going to Build the Clean Energy Revolution

  • How a California Activist Learned to Think Locally

Keep drinking water safe and affordable for everyone.

Take Action
food & water watch logo
en Español

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold & uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Food & Water Action is a 501(c)4 organization.

Food & Water Watch Headquarters

1616 P Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Main: 202.683.2500

Contact your regional office.

Work with us: See all job openings

  • Problems
    • Broken Democracy
    • Climate Change & Environment
    • Corporate Control of Food
    • Corporate Control of Water
    • Factory Farming & Food Safety
    • Fracking
    • GMOs
    • Global Trade
    • Pollution Trading
  • Solutions
    • Advocate Fair Policies
    • Legal Action
    • Organizing for Change
    • Research & Policy Analysis
  • Our Impact
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Victories
  • Take Action
    • Get Active Where You Live
    • Organizing Tools
    • Find an Event
    • Volunteer with Us
    • Live Healthy
    • Donate
  • Give
    • Give Now
    • Give Monthly
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • Membership Options
    • Fundraise
    • Workplace Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways to Give
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Learn more about Food & Water Action www.foodandwateraction.org.
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • 2021 © Food & Water Watch
  • www.foodandwaterwatch.org
  • Terms of Service
  • Data Usage Policy