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Farm Bill Programs Favor Large Scale Operations

Jeff Vangua
/
U.S.D.A. NRCS
Acres and acres of lettuce in Arizona

Negotiations are underway in Congress on the 2018 Farm Bill.  However, the title, "Farm Bill" is somewhat of a misnomer, because only about 20% of the funding goes to agricultural programs, while the remaining 80% funds non-farm nutrition programs. 

Another misconception is that small family farms are major beneficiaries of the various farm programs.  The reality is that although small farms make up over 80% of the total farms and ranches in the U.S. their operators got only about 22% of the total farm program payments in 2015.