Congress Goes Hog Wild With Farm Bill

[rockerz71]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

You don't think it's beneficial to the country to have farmland? I do.

Sure, but I don't care if that farmland is owned by a family, small company, or large company. Makes no difference to me.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by rockerz71

Sure, but I don't care if that farmland is owned by a family, small company, or large company. Makes no difference to me.

If you saw a mega-pig operation like Cargill runs, you might think differently.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

If you saw a mega-pig operation like Cargill runs, you might think differently.

I was just going to say that! In Michigan they have people coming over from the Netherlands and buying up Michigan property to build these huge CAFOs.

But a Michigan group says it has documented dozens of manure and silage discharges into local streams, which led to state action against Dutch farmers.

What perhaps riles opponents of the large farms most is their smell. Each farm is required to build ponds capable of storing millions of gallons of liquid manure until it can be spread on nearby crop fields. On warm summer days, those lagoons can advertise their existence for miles around, critics complain.

"Sometimes it will be so bad it will wake you up at night," said Diane Furbee, who with her husband runs a crop and beef-cattle farm in Madison County, Ohio, near a Dutch-owned farm with nearly 800 cows.

"For God's sake, we farm," she said. "We know what manure smells like. But our air is so bad we can't breathe."

The driving force behind the Dutch farms has been Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development of Wauseon, Ohio, which was founded by a family of Dutch farmers in 1997. For fees of $3 million or more, the firm helps Dutch farmers obtain visas, buy land and apply for dairy permits.

Since its creation, Vreba-Hoff has settled 42 Dutch families in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana - 24 of them in Ohio - and has nine more projects in development, said Cecilia Conway, a partner in the firm.

Dutch 'factory farms' stir resentmentin U.S. - International Herald Tribune

[Frenchy]

It has also gotten into the wells and the water tables.

[Ed Ely]

Hog farming should go to Iraq and
relocate to the desert there.

Ed

[Etta Place]

Feeding at the trough
[Posted on May 1, 2008 at 8:07 PM]

Government programs aimed at bringing corn-derived ethanol to market as an additive or alternative to gasoline have sent food costs spiking. Now, with food prices prompting riots around the globe, regulators, bankers and many farmers worry that an erosion of support for these programs could bring the party to a halt.

Indeed, a rising number of members of Congress insist the U.S. roll back subsidies for the corn-based fuel. But how likely is the government to stop filling the trough? Government support programs are all but impossible to kill, particularly agriculture programs that are ostensibly created to help family farmers but add billions to the income statements of giant agribusinesses such as Archer Daniels Midland Co.

ADM and its competitors aren't going to give that up without a fight. According to a study conducted for Ethanol Producer Magazine by the Center for Responsive Politics, ADM spent $440,000 on lobbying expenses during the six months leading up to passage of the 2007 energy bill, which dramatically raised mandated ethanol production and retained a 54 cents per gallon tariff to shield domestic corn ethanol from imports, which are mostly derived from sugar cane.

The Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group of ethanol producers, spent $310,000 in lobbying during the same period. In all, the ethanol industry devoted $1.6 million to lobbying Congress over the energy bill. Their efforts aren't likely to slow down amid the current boom.

Ethanol's chief defenders in Congress include Iowa's two senators, Democrat Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, and Republican Charles Grassley. Both have collected more than $1 million in campaign contributions from agribusiness during their careers on Capitol Hill.

But longtime critics of ethanol subsidies sense the time is right to mount a serious offensive. On April 29, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced a bill to repeal mandates for renewable fuels and tax credits for ethanol producers as well as end tariffs on imported ethanol. He also asked President Bush to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the mandates.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires that the U.S. produce 10.5 billion gallons of fuel from corn ethanol this year, increasing to 15 billion gallons by 2015. The EPA has authority to repeal the mandate if it determines the level of ethanol production is hurting the economy or environment.

"Corn is being sold at nearly six dollars a bushel today, as compared to two dollars a bushel nearly two years ago," Flake wrote in his letter to the president. "The new standard has done little but add stress to an already strained economy." Other leading opponents of ethanol subsidies include another Arizona Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl, and Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas. In an opinion piece posted April 28 on Investor's Business Daily, she complained that "we are already seeing the ill effects" of the 2007 energy provisions.

"Last year, 25% of America's corn crop was diverted to produce ethanol. In 2008, that number will grow to 30%-35%, and it will soar even higher in the years to come," she wrote. Because of the switch to corn ethanol, boosting the cost of feeding livestock and driving up the price of meat. According to Hutchinson, the price of corn, wheat and soybeans has increased by more than 240% since February 2006. "While the blame for higher costs shouldn't rest exclusively with biofuels -- drought and rising oil costs are contributing factors -- the expansion of biofuels has been a major source of the problem," she says.

Ethanol has other drawbacks. David Pimentel, a Cornell University agriculture expert, estimates that ethanol takes more energy to produce than it yields. Growing the corn and converting it to ethanol requires 131,000 BTUs per gallon, whereas that gallon provides only 77,000 BTUs. "Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTU," he says. Meanwhile, several studies counter claims that ethanol produces less pollution than fossil fuels.

Ethanol's supporters say the criticisms are primarily "marketing strategies" by the oil industry, which they blame for most of the run-up in global food prices. Furthermore, they say Pimentel's numbers don't take in improvements in refining and crop yields that have lessened the impact on the environment.

Nevertheless, Rick Tolman, chief executive of the National Corn Growers Association, concedes that demand for ethanol might account for one-third of the spike on corn prices.

Bush last week defended federal support for ethanol but acknowledged that alternatives, such as cellulosic versions from switch grass or wood chips, must be pursued.

Recognizing the growing unrest over subsidies, the ethanol lobby last week embraced a tentative agreement between the House and Senate over funding for a new farm bill that would reduce the tax credit provided to fuel producers that use ethanol to 45 cents a gallon from 51 cents, which would save the federal budget more than $1 billion. The tariff on imported ethanol, however, would be extended until Dec. 31, 2010.

The compromise is a small one in a bigger fight to preserve government support. Last week the Renewable Fuels Association held a press conference to counter claims that ethanol subsidies are boosting food prices. They blame oil prices for driving up fertilizers and other grain production costs.

Though a far cry from the elimination that ethanol's critics seek, they would see a subsidy cut as a tactical victory. "Subsidies do become entrenched," says Demian Moore at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "If this passes, it would be a pretty big leap relative to how Congress usually works." - Bill McConnell

Feeding at the trough (Dealscape)


Support for these farm subsidies is bipartisan, which is exemplified by both senators from Iowa, one a Republican and one a Democrat, who favor this practice.

[Delija]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

So, I ain't running for president. What the f**k you going to do? Take back your donation?

LOL...I thought that you had abandoned your presidential bid and were concentrating on your motivation speaking gig - Along with your finishing school empire.

Got to admit OEFM....beneath all the delicate sweet talk, you make an excellent point ....I hear more "experts" talking out of their a$$es here than I'd have believed possible. I'm truly humbled by guys here that seem to know everything about everything.





Peace,
D.

[one-eyed-fatman]

Originally Posted by Delija

LOL...I thought that you had abandoned your presidential bid and were concentrating on your motivation speaking gig - Along with your finishing school empire.

Got to admit OEFM....beneath all the delicate sweet talk, you make an excellent point ....I hear more "experts" talking out of their a$$es here than I'd have believed possible. I'm truly humbled by guys here that seem to know everything about everything.





Peace,
D.

D I guess I'm just a diamond in the rough. There just doesn't seem to be any tools out there strong enough to cut me down so I can look cute and pretty like a politician. Did you know I and I alone taught Cheney how to cuss and instructed him on the proper use in finger signals? It was really a challenge teaching him to point his finger in the proper manner but as you have seen I was successful. My other political students were much quicker learners cept for GW. I swear that boy can't do nothing right.

[Delija]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

. Did you know ......(edit)....?

No, I didn't know all that stuff for certain, but I had a strong feeling based on some pretty solid gossip at very high levels. Those inside the DC Beltway love to hear themselves talk, so they end up blabbing about stuff that's supposed to be privileged info....of course it leaks, and my sources have their ears open 'cause the pay is so good!

I wouldn't give up on Dubya yet. Looks like being a "lame duck" is going to be a breeze for him since he's had a lot of practice at being "lame"...so now his mind is less crammed up and possibly more open to your wisdom then previously.

Is it worth the effort? Only you can make that decision.

Of course (as the majority of the pundits have been implying) he may still hold a grudge against you for that time you tried to wire his jaw shut. He never understood that you were trying to do him a favor.


LOL

Peace my Spherical Brother,
D.

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

D I guess I'm just a diamond in the rough. There just doesn't seem to be any tools out there strong enough to cut me down so I can look cute and pretty like a politician. Did you know I and I alone taught Cheney how to cuss and instructed him on the proper use in finger signals? It was really a challenge teaching him to point his finger in the proper manner but as you have seen I was successful. My other political students were much quicker learners cept for GW. I swear that boy can't do nothing right.

Rough, absolutely. Diamond, no way. It would be a step up to go to Cubic Zirconia, IMHO.