Farm Bill on Infrastructure William Ragsdale Davis Wright Ben Hopton Jourdan Moore Jason Deveau

Issues Rural Communities Face  Very low population to tax  Communities cover much more area  Lower levels of education  Less income  Higher unemployment and poverty rates

Farm Commodities  Most are cash payments paid to farm owners/operators.  They are paid in 1 of 3 ways 1.Marketing Loan Assistance- or Counter- Cyclical Payment Programs- these guarantee certain levels of market prices or producer revenues in face of a turbulent market. 2. Direct Payment Program- provides farmers subsidy payments, regardless of market outlooks. These payments are an exact dollar and do not fluxuate. 3. Crop Insurance and Disaster Payment Programs- compensate for crop losses associated with unusual weather or natural disasters.

Impacts on Farmers and the Community  The vast majority of farm subsidies focus on economic structure and welfare of the farmers, not the rural community.  These subsidies allow farmers to stay afloat during adverse, unforeseen, or tough times.  Studies have shown that increased farm subsidies encourages growth in farm size.  However farm subsidies have not been shown to significantly impact off-farm employment.  Larger farms with hired labor benefit the community less than multiple mid-sized family- labor farming operations.  Communities with a greater absentee of farmland ownership and a higher number of hired labor have higher rates of socioeconomic inequality and higher rates of poverty.  Multiple independent analysis’s of the Farm Bill’s increased commodities and subsidies have shown that it provides only a modest benefit to rural communities.  Mid sized farms were found to be better due to them paying better wages to LOCAL employees. The mega-farms typically bring in outside employees that work at or under minimum wage.

Broadband Internet  The Farm Bill attempted to give people in rural areas more internet access.  It gave loans based on the population of people that lived there.  Furthermore, loans would be restricted to underserved communities.

Farm Bill Failures  Once passed, the Farm Bill ended the practice of automatically paying annual farm subsidies regardless of farm prices or incomes. However, this backfires because all the savings from canceling direct payments goes toward new, uncapped subsidies that foster the growth of “mega- farms”.  The bill transfers resources from taxpayers to producers, but taxpayers lose more than producers gain. This increases inefficiency in the economy`s agricultural sector.  In order for farmers to have access to subsidies, they have to pay outlandish prices on land in order to buy an asset that entitles them to a subsidy. Many small farmers are incapable of this.  The savings promised by the bill will likely take ten years to materialize, even though the bill is probably only going to last five.

Farm Bill Success  Used solar power to water livestock  Began to produce milk using less energy  Started many well managed grazing systems to store the land  Gave money for infrastructure upgrades for the communities  Solved the problems due to lack of a tax base.