The Octopus was based on the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880, a bloody conflict between ranchers and the Southern Pacific Railroad. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley had leased land from the railroad at $2.50 to $5 per acre, in the hope of eventually purchasing the land outright. When the railroad offered the land for sale at prices adjusted for improvements (made, for the most part, by the farmers themselves), fighting broke out.
I now invite all of my cobloggers here at Agricultural Law to nominate their favorite entries for the literary canon of agricultural law.
Would someone please look at the current farm bill in Congress. I just heard that it will divde subsadies in a way that the Midwest only gets subsidies for growing soybeans, corn, sugarbeets and wheat. What does this do to diversity in the Midwest. How will it affect the farmer trying to have a diversified crop to sell locally?
I propose Walden as something to be included in the literary canon.
Andrew, the farm bill has historically subsidized the production of items you list. So that is nothing new. Has this produced monocultures in the production areas of the United States? Yes. However, at least a portion of current subsidies are "decoupled" and, in theory, do not distort a producer's choice to plant (other than the prohibition on planting fruits and nuts that continues in the next farm bill). So in terms of producer diversification, there is some flexibility (and, relative to history, a great deal of flexibility). But diversification amongst these commodities is not the same as ecological diversity. And, from a local foods perspective, the more interesting issue may be whether the next farm bill provides such farmers with sufficient tools to manage the risks inherent in production. Of course, one can question whether that is a role the government should play at all.
The Octopus was based on the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880, a bloody conflict between ranchers and the Southern Pacific Railroad. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley had leased land from the railroad at $2.50 to $5 per acre, in the hope of eventually purchasing the land outright. When the railroad offered the land for sale at prices adjusted for improvements (made, for the most part, by the farmers themselves), fighting broke out.
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Would someone please look at the current farm bill in Congress. I just heard that it will divde subsadies in a way that the Midwest only gets subsidies for growing soybeans, corn, sugarbeets and wheat. What does this do to diversity in the Midwest. How will it affect the farmer trying to have a diversified crop to sell locally?
I propose Walden as something to be included in the literary canon.
Andrew, the farm bill has historically subsidized the production of items you list. So that is nothing new. Has this produced monocultures in the production areas of the United States? Yes. However, at least a portion of current subsidies are "decoupled" and, in theory, do not distort a producer's choice to plant (other than the prohibition on planting fruits and nuts that continues in the next farm bill). So in terms of producer diversification, there is some flexibility (and, relative to history, a great deal of flexibility). But diversification amongst these commodities is not the same as ecological diversity. And, from a local foods perspective, the more interesting issue may be whether the next farm bill provides such farmers with sufficient tools to manage the risks inherent in production. Of course, one can question whether that is a role the government should play at all.
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