Learn More in Agriculture

Taxpayer Supports for Biomass in Federal Farm Bill

For years, proponents of bioenergy and biofuels promised that the industry would help reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, decrease...

Current Agricultural Policy’s Effects on Water Quality

For more than 75 years, market-distorting agricultural subsidies have produced numerous unintended consequences that have degraded water...

Impact of Ag Subsidies and Record Farm Profits in Farm Country

Despite last year’s drought, the agriculture sector recorded its second highest year of profits in a generation, down just three percent...

Achieving Measurable Outcomes in Agricultural Conservation Programs

All federal agricultural programs – including conservation programs - should prove that they are achieving measurable outcomes that...

Corporate Consolidation in Agriculture Fact Sheet

Despite best intentions, sometimes federal programs do more harm than good and cause unintended consequences that unnecessarily shift...

Income Guarantee for Agribusinesses: Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) Shallow Loss Program

“Shallow loss” programs are a luxury that would be the envy of any other industry. They are market- and trade-distorting entitlement...

Reforming the Farm Safety Net: Principles for Accountability

Every five or so years, Congress has an opportunity to reform agriculture policy in the farm bill, a massive piece of legislation that...

Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies

Despite our nation’s $16.8 trillion debt and record deficits, agricultural lobbyists continue to fearlessly campaign for more subsidies...

Biomass Crop Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), a new program added to the energy title in the 2008 farm bill, was intended to spur...

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program

Many examples of corporate welfare can be found in the federal budget, but few are as wasteful as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s...

Biorefinery Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Biorefinery Assistance Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, was intended to...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Biofuels and Biomass

Created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program has $34 billion in...

Taxpayer Supports for Corn Ethanol in Federal Legislation

Since its creation of the domestic market for corn ethanol after the energy crisis of the 1970s, the federal government has nurtured and...

Repowering Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Repowering Assistance Program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, reimburses...

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels Fact Sheet

Established by an Executive Order in 1999, the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (BPAB) is intended to pay advanced biofuels...

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was created in the 2008 farm bill to provide federal grants and loans to renewable energy...

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Fact Sheet

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) provides grants to companies, universities, and government research centers to...

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby

The federal government has in one form or another provided lucrative subsidies to the corn ethanol industry for more than 30 years,...

Path to Trillion Dollar Farm Bills

Not only have recent farm bills come in significantly over-budget, but they have also doubled in cost over the past decade. ...

Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes

Several administrative changes could be implemented to reduce taxpayer costs and limit the unintended consequences of federal crop insurance. ...

Golden Fleece Awarded to Risk Management Agency for Risking Taxpayer Dollars

Taxpayers for Common Sense awarded the Golden Fleece to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency for wasting taxpayer funds on risk management education for crops ranging from Christmas trees to turf grass....

Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies

The so-called Farm Bill currently being negotiated in Congress is shaping up to be another taxpayer-funded handout to wealthy landowners,...

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance

Federally subsidized crop insurance has become the largest taxpayer support for agriculture. But not all parts of the agriculture...

Loan Guarantee Program 101

A basic primer on the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program and answers general questions on the history, administration, and overall effect of the program....

Farm Bill 101

The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation that guides food and farm policy. It covers wide-ranging topics from rural broadband service to farm subsidy payments....

Agricultural Safety Net 101

The agricultural safety net refers to the various federal programs and policies that insulate agricultural producers from the costs of conducting business....

Green Scissors Campaign 101

A basic primer on the Green Scissors campaign and answers general questions about the history and goals of the coalition....

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with...

Record Drought Results in Record Profit

Special interests are always looking for a silver lining. This year, it’s the farm lobby and sympathetic politicians shamelessly taking...

With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later

Citing record drought conditions throughout the country, the House is debating today legislation to retroactively extend four...

Taxpayers Lose with More Unnecessary Farm Subsidy Layers

Federal farm programs are ripe for reform, especially those that lock in record high prices and guarantee farmers’ expected income. As...

Turning a Drought into a Fiscal Disaster

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to take advantage of the drought crisis to foist a trillion-dollar farm bill on...

House Farm Bill Draft Analysis: Squanders Savings, Recycles Wasteful Ideas, and Creates New Subsidy Entitlement Programs

Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee released its 2012 Farm Bill draft which eliminates some wasteful commodity programs but...

Senate’s New Way to Lock in Unlimited Farm Subsidies

On June 21, the Senate passed a few long-awaited reforms to the farm subsidy maze. Unfortunately, at the same time, they also increased...

Federal-Free Risk Management in Agriculture

Like all businesses, agricultural producers face a number of risks in maintaining a profitable enterprise. Successful management of these...

Senate Ag Committee: More is Less

(Originally published June 8, 2012) With debate on the 2012 Farm Bill underway on the Senate Floor, proponents of this nearly trillion...

Farm Safety Net Proposals that Fail to Save

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report that will help you study up for this Wednesday’s Senate Farm Bill mark-up...

Government Report Reinforces Need to Harvest Savings in Crop Insurance

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a report detailing the potential to save more than a billion dollars a year...

Crop Insurance: A Federal Cash Assurance Program

Federal crop insurance is a highly taxpayer subsidized program that allows agricultural producers to shift their business risk onto...

Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support

Taxpayers for Common Sense released today a report detailing the heavily subsidized biofuels industry's political clout. The biofuels...

Super Cuts for the Super Committee

Taxpayers for Common Sense has been working hard to meet the challenge of that the so-called Super Committee is facing - $1.2-1.5...

Green Scissors 2011

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined environmental, consumer watchdog, and free-market groups today to release Green Scissors 2011, which...

No Deal on Ethanol for Taxpayers

A small group Senators are attempting to snatch fiscal defeat from the jaws of taxpayer victory on ethanol subsidies. Last month the...

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit: History and Current Policy

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the most common biofuel in the U.S. The tax...

Common Sense Cuts—$900 billion in savings over 10 years

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...

TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Agriculture

Outdated and ineffective farm policies waste billions of federal funds each year, jeopardize fragile lands and waters and no longer...

TCS Recommended Budget Cuts for the 112th Congress

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...

Election Gives Big-Spending Congressional Committees New Look

The Armed Services Committees are not the only Congressional bodies to see their memberships upended by the midterm elections. The...

Green Scissors 2010

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a number of environmental and consumer groups and a bipartisan slate of Representatives today in...

FY11 Budget Cuts Agriculture Waste

The President’s proposed FY2011 Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget is $25.8 billion, slightly reduced from the FY2010 level of $26.9...

Ethanol Subsidies: Too Much for Too Little

Through a combination of subsidies, trade restrictions, and government mandates a handful of corporate agribusinesses and oil companies...

GAO: More than $49 Million in Potentially Ineligible Farm Payments

Just months after a new multi-billion dollar five year farm bill was passed into law, a federal watchdog reports that individuals who are...

FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases

The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House...

Silos Full of Subsidies

Overview For over 70 years American taxpayers have been doling out billions of dollars every year to underwrite the agriculture...

TCS Agriculture Program

Taxpayers for Common Sense works with a broad range of groups to enact significant farm policy reform. With the farm bill up for...

TCS Statement on House Passage of Farm Bill Conference Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2008 CONTACT: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500   Written Statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of...

Bush Administration Releases Proposal for Farm Bill Compromise

Below is a copy of the proposal reportedly put forth the by the Bush Administration over the weekend.  It’s hard to say whether this is...

Parameters of a Successful Farm Bill

The President released a response to House and Senate conference committee negotiators. The President proposed 13 potential offsets to...

Golden Fleece Award

Taxpayers for Common Sense Announces New Golden Fleece Recipient Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority - Taxpayer Funded Cheerleaders...

Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance: 2007 Farm Bill Issues (CRS Report for Congress)

The federal government has relied primarily on two policy tools in recent years to help mitigate the financial losses experienced by crop...

TCS Statement On Partnership in Senate Farm Bill Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement by Ms....

FRESH Act Fact Sheet

The FRESH act introduced by Senators Lugar and Lautenberg, and co-sponsored by Senators Cardin, Menendez, Reed, Hatch, Collins and...

House Passes “Carbon Copy” Farm Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 27, 2007 CONTACT: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 x126 Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement from...

Kind-Flake Legislation Brings the Farm Bill into the 21st Century

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by...

U.S. Farm Policy: Blank Check Politics

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues outdated, depression-era farm subsidy policies that funnel billions of dollars to...

TCS Statement on Senate Farm Subsidy Vote

The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Senate refusal to cut billions in handouts for the nation’s largest and richest farms....

An Open Letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee: Support Subsidy Reform

Dear Senator:   The undersigned organizations have long advocated reform of our crop subsidy system.  Now, with added federal expenditures...

World Trade Organization Overrules King Cotton

The following is a prepared statement by Franz Matzner, Policy Analyst of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the World Trade Organization's final decision on the Brazil Cotton Case....

Fixed Direct Payments: Flawed Formula Fleeces Taxpayers

Fixed Direct Payments, or ‘decoupled payments’, provide farmers with direct income unrelated to the market.1 Many argue that direct...

TCS Statement on House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm Bill

The following is a statement by Cena Swisher, Senior Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm Bill:...

Despite Changes, Farm Bill Costs too Much, Continues to Plague Family Farmers

The following statement is from Joe Theissen, Executive Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense in response to final passage of S. 1731, the Senate farm bill: ...

Energy Polluter Poised to Reap $62 Billion in Taxpayer Handouts

WASHINGTON, DC - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate passes the House energy bill...

Chabot takes Stand Against Wasteful Spending

Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH) today offered two separate amendments to the House Agriculture spending bill that would eliminate...

Agricultural Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep

Washington, DC - The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill today that is riddled with unnecessary...

Agriculture Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep

Washington, DC – The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill today that is riddled with unnecessary...

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters...