Should agriculture be treated differently than any industry and why?

Answer 1

Yes it should.

1. It is a seasonal industry in many areas of the world. You can't compare on the same level as an industry that can operate year round. Tourism industries could also fall in this area.

2. Most countries have protectionist policies that protect agriculture far more than other industries. This is to protect local food supplies in situtations such as war. Look at Japan's policy toward rice and the United States policy towards sugar.

3. This is the only industry where the producer cannot pass costs onto their customers. All inputs have increased without the product price increasing. This is because farmers are price takers not price makers.

4.With the low price of food in North America, farmers cannot earn a living wage. As long as this is happening, farmers will have to be subsidized.

5.Agriculture relies heavily on the weather. Until people can control the weather, there will always be poor years and great years.

6. Agriculture deals with perishable goods that are hard to store and transport.

Agriculture is an industry that supports all other industries. Without food to provide energy to the masses, all other industries would not exist. But also unless there are huge population booms, the market is finite and you can only sell so much food to a set population without creating other problems - like obesity.

Answer 2

I prefer a goverment policy that keeps us in a surplus situation.

Prue laws of supply and demand and weather will result in shortages. Image our spoiled asses if we ran short on food .

Answer 3

No. Why should it?