Federal agriculture policy discourages farmers from planting and marketing fruits and vegetables, says a new report from the nonprofit Farmers' Legal Action Group. "As a result of administering farm commodity programs for many years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a rich body of knowledge about historical yields and prices for crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and cotton," FLAG writes in a news release. This information "enables the federal government and private businesses to offer loans and financing, as well as crop insurance and other risk-management tools, to farmers producing commodity crops," FLAG writes, noting that similar information is not available for fruits and vegetables.
"This lack of information poses a problem — especially for farmers who market their fruits and vegetables directly to retailers and consumers, rather than to wholesalers," FLAG writes. "Farmers who direct market tend to use a business model that relies on higher prices and lower volumes, but federal programs are based on farm business models that rely on lower prices and higher volumes." Jill Krueger, a FLAG senior staff attorney and the lead author of the report, explained, "Federal policies should make it easier for farmers who would like to produce and market fruits and vegetables. Now is the time to build consensus for policy change to improve existing programs as they are implemented and to prepare for the next Farm Bill."
The group recommends that the USDA "provide crop insurance for fruits and vegetables and disaster assistance coverage equivalent to that provided for farmers who grow non-perishable commodities, explore policy changes to enable farmers participating in the commodity programs to use program acres for the planting of fruits and vegetables and encourage farmers, public health leaders and consumer advocates to identify ways to increase demand for fruits and vegetables in order to keep pace with increases in supply." (Read more)
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