Government Keeps Picking Winners, Losers on the Farm

Here’s the first thing to understand about federally subsidized crop insurance: In an era when direct payments to farmers are increasingly difficult to justify, crop-insurance are becoming the main way in which public policy supports commodity crop farmers.

The farm bill negotiations taking place this week in the Senate Agriculture Committee will undoubtedly enshrine insurance subsidies -- and fund them -- at an unprecedented level. Look at any chart showing the rate of growth in federal spending on crop insurance over the past decade, and you will see what I mean.