According to
this article from two weeks ago in the LaCrosse Tribune, approximately half of
organic farmers in Wisconsin will be denied their $750 annual federal subsidy
this year, which has traditional gone towards the certification process
required to be “certified organic.” The program for the subsidy was cancelled
back in January, but many small time farmers are realizing only now that they
will not be eligible to receive their funds. This change in regulation effects
mostly small-time farmers for whom $750 is a relatively large percentage of the
value of their crop. Being certified organic is absolutely necessary for these
farmers, as it is more of a niche market and non-organic farms are able to
produce much more food at lower costs.
One of Stigler’s four ways that the
State can benefit an industry is through the direct subsidy of money, and this
is exactly the type of regulation these Wisconsin farmers are being denied and
so desperately are seeking. In an economy when so many people think that
good-producing firms are all for free markets and Laissez Faire government, it
is interesting to see these small time farmers fighting and appealing for the government
to step back into the picture and provide the regulation that they desperately
need. 
No comments:
Post a Comment