Posted on Jul 25, 2019
As Climate Changes, Taxpayers Will Shoulder Larger U.S. Payouts To Farmers
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Robert Henry is driving along the top of a Mississippi River levee, giving me a tour of land where he'd love to be planting soybeans right now. We're just east of New Madrid, Mo.
"Smells kind of raunchy, doesn't it?" he says.
From the window of Henry's truck, I see what looks like a swamp, with trees standing in water. Then we make a turn, and suddenly, as far as I can see, there's water. It covers a wide flood plain between the main river channel and the levee. This is where Henry normally grows his crops.
"Thousands and thousands of acres," Henry says. "Some of the best land in the world."
Henry won't grow anything here this year. He even has a tractor and harvesting equipment stranded on an island out in the middle of the river.
But here's the good news: He'll get a check anyway — a payout from his crop insurance. It won't be as much money as he'd have gotten from a soybean crop, but it'll help him get by, "which is better than going under, you know?" he says.
Most farmers who grow big commodity crops like corn, soybeans and wheat buy crop insurance. It's a good deal for them; the federal government actually covers about 60 percent of the cost of the premiums.
"Smells kind of raunchy, doesn't it?" he says.
From the window of Henry's truck, I see what looks like a swamp, with trees standing in water. Then we make a turn, and suddenly, as far as I can see, there's water. It covers a wide flood plain between the main river channel and the levee. This is where Henry normally grows his crops.
"Thousands and thousands of acres," Henry says. "Some of the best land in the world."
Henry won't grow anything here this year. He even has a tractor and harvesting equipment stranded on an island out in the middle of the river.
But here's the good news: He'll get a check anyway — a payout from his crop insurance. It won't be as much money as he'd have gotten from a soybean crop, but it'll help him get by, "which is better than going under, you know?" he says.
Most farmers who grow big commodity crops like corn, soybeans and wheat buy crop insurance. It's a good deal for them; the federal government actually covers about 60 percent of the cost of the premiums.
As Climate Changes, Taxpayers Will Shoulder Larger U.S. Payouts To Farmers
Posted from npr.org
Farming
Agriculture
Taxes
Climate Change
Science
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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A damn shame what happened in the Midwest earlier this year. This will also increase prices for agricultural products.
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I look at it this way. My shop isn't busy because most of my customers are farmers and they didn't get any crop planted or just a small portion of it. Its great the farmers get paid 60% of what they would of made during a normal year from our federal government. Here's the question.....should I be entitled to recapture 60% of what I would have made if the farmers had a normal year? Should the local car dealership be paid 60% of what he would have made in sales to those farmers? I used the word entitled when I asked this question. Should everybody who stands to lose money be compensated or entitled to get paid for their loss? Or do you save some money and put it aside for a bad year? That's what my grand dad did. He took care of his machinery and made it last another year. I guess what I wanted to say is that entitlement are just what they say they are. "The belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment". I'd rather take a loss and stand on my own two feet than believe I am entitled to something everyone else isn't.
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