Study shows big differences among crops in levels of federal subsidy

The fact that different crops receive different amounts of federal support in the form of crop subsidies isn't a secret, but a new report hoping to quantify those differences shines new light on the regional influences affecting farm policy. The report, from the Congressional Research Service, shows "cotton and rice, two crops grown primarily in the South and in California, have the most generous support levels, while barley and soybean growers have the least. Wheat, corn, sorghum and oats fall in the middle," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports on the Green Fields blog.

"The study calculated the amount that loan rates – a basic price guarantee level – would have to be changed to equalize the commodities and found that the rate for soybeans would have to be raised by 7 percent, while the rate for rice would have to be cut by 33 percent. The corn would need to be increased by just 3 percent," Brasher writes. The study reports subsidies account for more than 30 percent of the total production cost of rice and cotton compared to 12 percent of corn and 3.6 percent of soybeans. The study reports rice farmers received $217 per acre, compared to the $40 per acre average for all crops. Soybean farmers received $9 per acre while corn farmers received $50 per acre.

The study didn't take into account other forms of government support, such as federal ethanol mandates that boost corn, Brasher notes. Regional politics have long influenced farm policy; "Southern farmers tend to be more resistant to limits on the amount of subsidies that an individual farmer can collect in any one year," Brasher writes. (Read more)