Spot-On: FAIR or Foul

Like many of our social programs, what's now known as the Farm Bill got its start in Roosevelt's New Deal legislation during the Great Depression. During this period crop prices frequently dropped below production costs and sometimes even fell to zero — literally. Farmers, even successful farmers (in the sense of producing a good crop) were losing their farms. So the government stepped in and offered farmers a choice, the government would establish a target price for certain commodity crops, crops that could be stored for long periods (such as rice, wheat, and corn). If market prices dropped below the target price farmers could take out a government loan to cover the cost of storage for their crops until prices recovered, or, if prices stayed low too long, they could keep the money and let the government keep the crops.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

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