Agricultural Subsidies

The World Trade talks are getting nowhere again, and actually, because the demands of each Side would injure the standard of living of the other Side. They all want to invade each other's markets, but they do not want to pay for the privilege. This Author has never held much respect for multi-Trade agreements, and the present Talks simply express that Trade agreements have to be sculpted to each Participant in the agreement, they cannot be an ad hoc 'Rule of Thumb' for Everyone--no matter how badly economies are battered.

Take the Issue of American Agricultural subsidies. They created Corporate Agribusiness without helping the average individual Farmer very much. Is this the way to go? Farming is a specialist trade, I possess this knowledge being the Son and Grandson of Farmers, and having engaged in Farming myself. Corporate Executives without farming experience are not qualified to make decision of 'What' and 'Where' to plant and 'When', likwise for using fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide, what type of seed to use, when to Cultivate, when and how to harvest, and what types of Grain storage to use. Farmers need be allowed the freedom to determine the best use of resources, but Farmers must also make a living.

American Farm subsidies must eventually be altered to eliminate the inequities in the system, as well as limit the incrusion of Corporate life into the basic trade. This Author favors a simple system, easily undersood, with simple structural Accounting placed upon the Farmers. A simple Draft of the Enactment would be:

All registered Farmers owning or renting agricultural land, will be guaranteed a Wage of $16 per Hour worked, if they can prove they have worked over 1000 Hours at the Occupation.

Such a law does not guarantee Farm debt, does not promise success at Farming, or the accumulation of wealth. All Agribusiness will need to register one Farmer for each piece of land, and will have to prove each registered Farmer worked at least 1000 hours on the land (We will be generous, and allow each laborer to work any agricultural land to make up the hours). Non-Farmers will not be allowed subsidy because they cannot register the hours worked. Agribusiness must turn into businesses, who are expected to be Profitable without Government welfare. The pay is sufficiently guaranteed to assure Farmers will not be forced from Farming, but insufficiently high to promote artificial assumption of Debt load. The final note states Farmers will not have to exercise greater Accounting than regularly utilized in Income Tax payment. lgl