The farm bill is up for a final vote soon. Here’s why so many people hate it.
In theory, the extra subsidies for crop insurance are supposed to cost less than the old direct payments did. But, again, it depends. More droughts or unseasonable cold weather could cause these payments to soar unexpectedly. Likewise, the new “shallow loss” insurance programs could start paying a lot of money if the price of commodities like corn and soy start dropping from their recent highs. “In fact,” argues the R Street Institute, “given recent drops in the price of corn, the shallow loss program would be triggered on day one for the nation’s largest commodity crop.”
