"This is good news. Agricultural subsidies cost taxpayers more than $15 billion each year, and until those subsidies are eliminated, farming in America will never be sustainable." - Baltimore Sun, May 18, 2011.
I've seen similar numbers reported recently in the New York Times as well. Bear in mind, $15 billion sounds like a lot, but it amounts to less than 1/2 of 1% of total federal spending. The data also show that small farms depend more heavily on subsidies than larger farms (often misunderstood as 'big agribusiness' or 'industrial farms' ). Eliminating subsidies then, if anything would lead to more concentration in the industry and larger farms.
So in terms of financial sustainability, then yes the article would be correct on that point, as the smaller, less financially sustainable farms may go away. But what about environmental sustainability?
Many of the green technologies (herbicide and pest resistant GMO crops, pharmaceuticals) used by modern farmers dwarf the impact of other consumer green technologies like hybrid cars. Many of these are 'scale neutral' (for instance, the single largest growing demographic among GMO adoption is small farmers in developing countries) so eliminating small farms that use these technologies won't help with sustainability, given they have adopted these technologies. Other green technologies in agriculture include GPS and auto steer technology. Larger scale production is likely necessary to get the most (financially and environmentally) from these technologies.
Among those most lagging in green technology adoption are organic producers, which have zero tolerance for GMOs, (although fully embracing more volatile methods utilizing nuclear radiation to breed better plants)
However, even as the market for these products is greatly expanding, it makes up a very small proportion of the food we consume (largely supplementals like fruits and vegetables vs. the staple commodities that feed the world) making organic largely irrelevant to the overall conversation about sustainability in agriculture and subsidies. I'm not sure why the article even goes down this path.
Some are arguing for a compromise, capping subsidies based on income level. That may be a way to preserve smaller farms, but doesn't really make much difference in terms of government spending and likely won't matter much in terms of sustainability without knowing more about green technology adoption rates and productivity of smaller farms. Many of the arguments for ending farm subsidies based on spending, sustainability, nutrition etc. lack empirical support. Ultimately the argument about farm subsidies comes down to your view on the role of government.
Some are arguing for a compromise, capping subsidies based on income level. That may be a way to preserve smaller farms, but doesn't really make much difference in terms of government spending and likely won't matter much in terms of sustainability without knowing more about green technology adoption rates and productivity of smaller farms. Many of the arguments for ending farm subsidies based on spending, sustainability, nutrition etc. lack empirical support. Ultimately the argument about farm subsidies comes down to your view on the role of government.
As far as the article's comments on farming like our great grandparents, I'm not sure 26 bushels an acre, no matter what the method, is going to cut it these days.
