Thomas Jefferson wrote: ” “I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe.” –Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. Papers 12:442 “ 

On the other hand . . .

Our current US Under-Secretary of Agriculture for “Rural Development” is Thomas Dorr — a former Farmer and Member of the Chicago Federal Reserve Board (as well as brother of our good friend & co-laborer, Paul Dorr). Has stated that he believes “the economically ideal Iowa farm would be 225,000 acres in size.” Using that parameter and the latest US Census of Agriculture data, making Dorr’s ideal farm size a reality would cut the number of independent farms in Iowa from roughly 90,000 currently to 139, driving 99.8 percent of farms out of business. (There are currently 31,166,699 acres of farmland in Iowa, averaging 343 acres per farm.)  

This is an article from a couple of years ago – and it seems dated in light of current high commodity prices — but I will stand by the premise :

USDA: A Government Program that Works ?

Friends,

We are constantly discussing things our local, state, and particularly “federal” government does that they shouldn’t as well as government programs that don’t work.

Setting aside for a moment whether or not the government should be involved in agriculture ( you would be hard pressed to prove to me that it should), let us consider the US Dept. of Agriculture ( USDA from here). I would argue that this is actually an example of a government program that works, but the question is ” works for what?”.

What we’re sold is that the goals of the USDA are to help family farmers, strengthen rural America, and ensure an economically viable/ environmentally sustainable agricultural sector.  

If these are the true goals, then the USDA has been an absolutely colossal failure. The number of true family owned farms continues to plummet. Rural America is withering except in places where they are becoming more urbanized are have the temporal benevolence of multi-national corporations & our leviathan government. EVERY commodity that is subsidized and micromanaged to keep prices high and oversupply down have low ( sometimes artificially low) prices & mountains of carryover. There is very little opportunity for young people in rural America in general & production agriculture in particular — so not only does an aging and tired farm country lose it’s brightest and best hopes for the future, but family ties and tradition are being left for refuse as the young move on for “bigger and better things”.

If the goals of the USDA are as stated above, how can I say that it is a government program that works? I believe this is true because I don’t believe that the altruistic goals of “helping family farmers, strengthening rural America, and ensuring an economically viable/ environmentally sustainable agricultural sector” are the USDA’s main functions. In fact, it is hard to believe that this big of a mess could be made if not by design. . .

Am I saying this is a conspiracy? Not exactly. Am I saying that every employee of the USDA & every politician that supports ag programs has some dark intent? Certainly not. I have many friends and know of many more good folks that work for USDA . . .

However, let us consider that there may be some “other competing interests” that may also be having an impact on the ag policy of the USDA, the Land Grant Colleges, and the large agri-business firms.

What are some other goals of the USDA & the large multinational agribusiness firms whose bidding the Ag Department often does? Can we assume an agenda based on results?

We can unless we assume that there are absolutely blind & witless people running these programs & corporations.

What is the true Agenda — based on results, and who is over the people who are over farm policy?

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