OK, as I have frequently mentioned, subsidized commodity prices have negligible impact on food prices. It seems the NCGA agrees.
NCGA’s analysis of the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports show almost no relationship between the corn prices and food prices. “The food index rose 0.3% in March, following larger increases earlier this year. Grocery store foods also rose less in March, largely reflecting a downturn in the index for fruits and vegetables.” [More] [My emphasis]
Tell me again. How does our alleged "cheap food policy" work again?
3 comments:
John, I don't get your point on this one at all. It proves just the opposite, that our cheap food policy is working. The safety net is place to provide farmers a minimum price on our products (which is still below our cost of production) in times of low market prices. In times like now, the subsidies don't change consumer pricing at all. IT WORKS!
Anon:
Thanks for reading.
I find no studies to support the concept of a cheap food policy. The bulk of payments go to feed grains, (whose effect is largely diluted by the livestock sector); cotton (?); dairy (actually raises the price of milk); and sugar/rice (neutral to price-increasing).
Second, as the farm lobby goes to great pains to point out, our food is not cheap, it is affordable. And this is a function of enormous incomes, not actual food costs. Please see my earlier posts.
[For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to embed links in comments!]
rents of $200 to $300 an acre for corn ground makes an outside observer think that the safety nets for certain areas of ag can't be all that far below COP or else there are a LOT OF GAMBLERS--RISK TAKERS.....does most of the gov't support just get bid into land costs or machinery? I do have a biased opinion as we have too use our grain farm too pay the bills on our livestock farm...this cannot happen forever and the only solution I see is grains have too drop some as it seems impossible too push livestock up too profitable levels at the present time..OR the few of us independents left are just a line in a history book....10 bu. of corn into a truck goes a lot easier than sorting a 165 lb. hog and sending them up a loading chute --safe planting-regards-kevin
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