After all these years, agriculture in America remains overwhelmingly dominated by family farms. A new report by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) shows
Continue Reading Data shows most American farms are still family farms
“Explosive growth.” That’s how Washington state’s Agriculture Department describes what’s been happening in the raw-milk industry in the past 10 years. 
The numbers say it all. There were only six raw-milk dairies in the state
Continue Reading Raw milk’s ‘explosive growth’ comes with costs to the state
If the USDA wants us to “eat healthy” by filling up half of our plates with fruits and vegetables, then why does the Senate’s proposed version of the 2012 Farm Bill continue to pour so
Continue Reading 2012 Farm Bill Advances Under Pressure Over Healthy Food
The subsidy discussion in the United States most often focuses on the impact of subsidizing certain crops, such as corn, wheat and soybeans, through the direct and counter-cyclical payments program to the exclusion of fruits
Continue Reading Growing Crops with Conservation and Food Safety in Mind
This week Congress begins hearings on the 2012 farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that gets updated about every five years and undergirds America’s entire food supply, but that few mortals can even understand.
Continue Reading SNAP: the Other Corporate Subsidy in the Farm Bill?
Let this be the last word on the Iowa caucuses.
Believe me, no one is happier to have this quadrennial event over. For years, we’ve seen presidential candidates from both parties go to Iowa and
There has been a lot of talk recently about federal farm subsidies, including whether the Super Committee is going to cut them to aid in reducing the federal deficit; whether these subsidies are contributing to
Continue Reading Why Fruits, Vegetables Are Excluded from Farm Subsidies
Each year when Americans pay their taxes, part of that money feeds into subsidies for junk food ingredients; and hardly any of it goes toward fresh produce, according to a new report. The U.S. Public
Continue Reading Ag Subsidies Fund Junk Food, Report Says
There is a zip code in a built up area of Colorado’s Front Range that contains only a post office for renting out boxes. The last time I checked about 60 of those box-holders had
Pistachio growers are getting $500,000 from the federal government for an industry re-building campaign.
The subsidy is being channeled through the Fresno-based Western Pistachio Association (WPA) for a “re-building effort in light of the recent
