Can farmers now grow as much as they want, or is the government still paying them not to?

Question

Horrible.....with all the starving people in the world....if they can't

Answer 1

Farmers work with the market. If the price is really high for grapes, then they wanna grow grapes and they dont have to grow a bunch to make a lot of money.

But if they made too much of grapes, there would be a surplus of grapes, and they would come down in price. Which is bad because then for the same amount of grapes, you get less money, which is pointless. Sometimes making things scarce (such as oil), you can keep prices high and take home record profits, for not doing that much.

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And just because people are starving, doesnt mean farmers should work overtime. The problem is that people in starving countries get paid more for mining or oil, instead of food, so they decide to look for natural resources instead of investing in proper irrigation systems , and learn more farming techniques, so they can make their own food, instead of depend on US to ship it to them.

Answer 2

They still get subsidies not to grow.

As for the starving people, I hope you know that a lot of what we send them does NOT wind up going to the poor but is stolen by the powerful who, in turn, sell it to the poor or make the poor work for it. It gets intercepted by selfish and cruel overlords. Sad, but true.

Answer 3

This year's farm bill, which has either passed or is about to pass over Bush's veto, provides enhanced subsidies for farmers to not grow food.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food%2C_Con...

Answer 4

With the growing shortage of food aid and the rising costs of food it makes more sense to me to encourage them to grow more.

But then I am not in Government and they are, and they KNOW those things, better than I.

It is all about making a buck.

Answer 5

Well, if the government pays them not to, that means they can, so yes.

Answer 6

it depends... on the demand and season and situation...

now... how do you get it to the starving people of the world in a timely manner... do you want to increase your taxes by 10 percent to pay for the planes or ships to send the food?

there isn't a shortage of food in the US... the problem is, how do you get it over there and distribute it in a good way and get the money to do it...

Answer 7

Yes the government is still paying them to not grow.