Does the US Government really pay some farmers not to grow certain crops?

Question

If so, how much does the government pay out for this?

Answer 1

Yes they do. It was originally intended to help shore up prices on certain crops(lowering the supply to raise prices to a reasonable level). Now it is just another payoff to a special interest group.

Answer 2

Over the years the government has had programs to pay farmers to quit planting crops and sow some of their fields to grass instead. Then a few years later, they come out with a program to tear up the grass and plant crops again. Then they have a program to quit raising crops and plant the area to wildlife cover. Then they had a program to pay people double for the lambs and wool that they raised. Much of farming today is dependent on filling out paperwork for government programs to subsidize a crop or pay you not to grow a certain crop.

Answer 3

They still do and there is quite a debate going because while they are trying to get farmers to grow corn for ethanol, they are paying others not to plant corn. This combination is driving prices up

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)

Answer 4

I'm not sure if they do it anymore, but I know it was a VERY common practice during the Depression. They figured that by creating an artificial scarcity of a product, it would drive up the prices and stimulate the economy. What the New Dealers failed to realize, of course, is the massive difference between price and value.

If the government does still do it, if you want a price, imagine taking several hundred million (if not billion, which is far more likely) dollars and flushing the toilet.

Answer 5

There are no US government programs that pay farmers not to grow crops.

Answer 6

Absolutely, Its welfare for farmers. Many farmers have sold their souls to the government just like some lazy flab on wick or welfare. My family has farmed tomatoes and other crops for nearly one hundred years and we have never taken a dime from Uncle Sam.

Answer 7

"Mel T" and "Smarty pants" are both correct. Farming subsidies are something that is ONLY practiced in CAPITALIST countries like the US and France. It is certainly not something that is done in the Socialist countries of Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Peoples Republic of China, Laos or Cambodia. Many people misuse the word and call countries like Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Britain and Australia as "socialist" when these countries are capitalist.

Answer 8

I know I was working for an egg farm that produced roughly 1.1 million eggs every day and the government would buy almost 40% of our eggs and ship them straight to landfills and dump them.

Answer 9

Yes they do, on certain crops if there is a glut onthe market. The price depends on what crop!

Answer 10

The handouts to big corporate agribusiness are the worst form of welfare in the US, and I'm sure the figures are accessible somewhere. You could try the US Department of Agriculture.

The one that most interests me is the tobacco growers. I know they were mooching on your tax dollars to grow their poisonous killer weed. I hope that particular handout has ended but I don't know.