A group that’s frequently critical of the nation’s agricultural policies is speaking out against the recently signed $180 billion farm bill. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chris Lehman reports:
Transcript
A group that’s frequently critical of the nation’s
agricultural policies is speaking out against the recently signed $180
billion farm bill. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chris Lehman reports:
The Washington D.C.
based Environmental Working Group calls the legislation a boondoggle which
will hurt small farmers and the environment. Spokesman John Corsiglia says the
winners in the farm bill are large agri-businesses.
“We would have liked
to have seen in the final farm bill more money spent on conservation
programs, and likewise, we would have liked to have seen more substantive
payment limits; a cap on the subsidy amounts that the largest farm
producers can receive.”
Corsiglia says the
bill has multiple loopholes which will allow corporate farms to avoid caps
on commodity payments. The
Environmental Working Group says it will continue to track federal farm
subsidies through a searchable database on its website.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Chris Lehman.