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The cruelest farm bill ever

Don’t call it a budget bill. Call it the cruelest farm bill ever. The House budget bill will make it easier for wealthy farmers to receive farm subsidies and harder for poor people to receive anti...

House budget bill’s top farm subsidy loopholes and giveaways

Farm subsidies already favor the largest farms . But the budget reconciliation bill the House will consider this week is packed with farm subsidy loopholes that would make the problem worse. These...

‘City slicker’ farm payments top $2B – and House GOP bill would make problem worse

Almost 80,000 “city slickers” living in some of the biggest metro areas in the U.S. took in more than $2 billion in farm subsidies between 2020 and 2024. Many recipients used loopholes that allow the...

Almost 10,000 farmers have received subsidies for 40 straight years

For decades, the Department of Agriculture sent a total of over $10 billion in repeat payments to farmers, according to a new EWG analysis. Every year, for 40 years, the money went to nearly 10,000...

10 questions for Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins

Brooke Rollins, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Agriculture, will testify January 23 before the Senate Agriculture Committee. The panel’s...

Senate farm bill proposal makes climate a USDA priority

If enacted, the farm bill released this week by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) would finally make it a permanent Department of Agriculture priority to support farmers...

Will agriculture be America’s leading source of greenhouse gas emissions?

Agriculture could produce more than a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Here’s why: Every other sector of the economy, especially transportation and energy, is expected to reduce...

USDA livestock subsidies top $72B

The Department of Agriculture has spent at least $72 billion in subsidies for livestock and seafood producers in recent decades, a new EWG analysis finds.

When is a farm bill not a farm bill? When it’s loaded with troubling provisions

A farm bill debate in Congress might conjure up visions of rustic barns and amber waves of grain. So it may surprise you to learn that this legislation could expose kids to pesticides, cut funding for...

‘City slicker’ farm payments hit $2.3B, with House GOP looking to increase payouts

Almost 80,000 “city slickers” living in some of the biggest urban areas in the U.S. took in a combined $2.3 billion in farm subsidies between 2019 and 2023 – many of them using loopholes that allow...

The House farm bill is bad news for children’s health and safety

There’s much to dislike about the House Republican farm bill – like taking food out of hungry childrens’ mouths while potentially exposing their bodies to more pesticides and supporting companies that...

The House farm bill's disastrous dozen: 12 reasons to vote against GOP proposal

There’s plenty to dislike about the farm bill proposal the House Agriculture Committee will consider this week, including its Department of Agriculture funding cuts and problematic provisions that...

Benefit of boost in crop reference prices would mostly only aid large farmers in just 100 counties

Here we go again: House Republicans are trying to rig subsidy programs to benefit Southern farmers. Their proposal would raise price guarantees for commodity crops in the upcoming farm bill, mostly to...

More than 4,000 Black farms are gone and House Republican proposals to increase reference prices will make it worse

The number of Black farms in the U.S. plummeted by more than 4,000 from 2017 to 2022, yet some farm groups and House Republicans have proposed to tilt the playing field even further against them.

At least 10,000 farmers took over $11B in farm subsidies over 39 consecutive years

For nearly 40 years, the Department of Agriculture annually paid more than 10,000 farmers billions in taxpayer-funded farm subsidies or disaster relief, a new EWG analysis finds.

USDA should strategically expand list of climate-smart conservation practices

A top Department of Agriculture official is touting plans to expand the USDA’s list of climate-smart conservation practices eligible for $11.7 billion in federal funding – and the department should...

As farm income returns to normal levels, gaps continue to grow

While farm income is expected to return to normal levels in 2024, the gap between the largest, most successful farmers and their poorer neighbors continues to grow. Increasing farm subsidies, as some...

Increasing crop reference prices would hurt young farmers

Increasing price guarantees for major crops, as some farm groups and legislators are proposing, would make it harder for young farmers – those aged 35 or younger – to compete against larger, legacy...

Do billionaires get farm subsidies?

A blockbuster report by the Government Accountability Office revealed that more than 1,300 “high-income” farmers received subsidies from the federal crop insurance program. But Congress has barred the...

USDA: Conservation backlogs grow despite new climate-smart funding

New data from the Department of Agriculture show that farmer demand for USDA farm stewardship support continues to outstrip available funds, despite $19.5 billion of additional funding for climate...
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