June 12, 2012 12:17PM # Agriculture Is Doing So Well (ergo We Must Subsidize It) By [Sallie James](https://www.cato.org/people/sallie-james) --- SHARE Farmer-friendly members of Congress are such a target-rich environment for ridicule when it comes to poor agriculture policy that it would be a full-time job just blogging about their utterances. So I try to spare you, most of the time. (You’re welcome.) But occasionally a quote passes my desk that is so ridiculous that I just have to share. Senator Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a Democrat (not that that matters) from Michican, yesterday made a [statement](http://krvn.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=2ctzxxbx) that contains a pretty obvious logical fallacy: > “American agriculture represents a bright spot in our economy,” Chairwoman Stabenow said. “*Agricultural exports are reaching record highs and American farmers and ranchers are continuing to outpace the rest of the world in productivity and efficiency*. Sixteen million American jobs are supported by American agriculture, *so it’s critical we pass the Farm Bill this year*. We must provide farmers and small businesses the certainty they need to continue growing and helping the country’s economy recover.” \[emphasis mine\] Which of course raises the question: If U.S. agriculture is doing so well, why do we need to subsidize it? To maintain those sixteen million jobs the Senator claims are supported by U.S. agriculture? Please. [Research](http://www.kansascityfed.org/publicat/mse/MSE_0305.pdf) has shown a negative link between farm subsidies and rural development, including jobs creation (more [here](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/rural-subsidies), including on rural subsidies more broadly). And the money for farm programs is extracted from the productive sector of the economy, at ensuing cost. In the meantime, a non-subsidized sector of the U.S. farm sector is faring very well indeed. The [popcorn industry is booming thanks to sales to Colombia following the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement](http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_144/Popcorn-Sales-Jump-Following-Trade-Deal-215010-1.html?zkPrintable=true), which came into effect last month. That hasn’t stopped [Nebraska’s senators from asking for hand-outs on behalf of the industry, of course](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77299.html), but the lesson to me seems clear: freer trade, fewer subsidies. \[HT: Andy Roth at the Club for Growth\] For more on Cato’s work on agriculture subsidies see [here](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/subsidies), [here](https://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb111/hb111-18.pdf), [here](http://www.freetrade.org/pubs/pas/tpa-030.pdf), [here](https://www.cato.org/publications/trade-policy-analysis/freeing-farm-farm-bill-all-americans) and [here](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/farm-subsidies-and-reverse-robin-hood). And a whole lot more [here](https://www.cato.org/agricultural-trade). ##### Related Tags [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies), [Department of Agriculture](https://www.cato.org/department-agriculture), [Downsizing Government](https://www.cato.org/downsizing-government) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).