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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Critics Say Farm Bill Compromise is a ‘Raw Deal’ for Colorado

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Thursday, October 25, 2007   

Washington, DC – The new Farm Bill is the subject of intense debate on Capitol Hill this week. Some farm advocates say the current version is a compromise that was made to get the bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which would create a 'raw deal' for 99 percent of Colorado farmers and ranchers. One key agreement includes a farm payment limitation, but Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs says it does nothing to stop multimillion dollar payments to the nation's biggest farms.

"This bill is a fig leaf that simply is there to provide political cover for people who don't want to vote for real payment limitation reform. The federal government's only going to be able to invest in rural development and value-added agriculture if we stop wasting money on subsidies to mega-farms."

Backers of the proposal say it will protect farmers in the long run, but Hassebrook argues that it leaves gigantic loopholes for mega-farmers to use.

"Like everywhere else, family farms in Colorado are being driven out of business by mega-farms, using the huge subsidy payments they get from the federal government to bid land away from their neighbors."

The Farm Bill is set to reach the Senate floor as soon as today. Hassebrook says he supports an amendment to be introduced on the floor that would close loopholes for mega-farms and cap direct subsidy payments at $250,000.



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