Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Farm Programs: What would you do to design something that works?

Tough Times for Farm Policy Designers.

When I graduated from university with a degree in agricultural economics, I was ready to take on the farm policy world. As a farm kid, I surmised that the government policy wonks at the top just needed a taste of my grassroots perspective and did I mention that I had a freshly printed degree in agricultural economics?

Yes, I was naïve, but I was also willing to pay my dues so I took a job as a policy researcher with a general farm lobby organization. It took two years, but it began to dawn on me that the life of a farm policy designer was not as glamorous as I originally thought. In fact, taking a farm policy gig means accepting the fact that you will please precisely no one. Regardless of how brilliantly you craft a new support program, your boss, the government, will say the program:

• gives too much money to farmers
• is not targeted properly
• has too many loopholes
• has high administration costs
• is not trade neutral
• is outdated even as it is released

On the other hand, farmers and their representative organizations will not be shy in letting you know that the program:

• does not provide enough money for farmers
• is not targeted properly
• is too inflexible
• requires too much paperwork
• is outdated even as it is released

The job is only getting tougher, because traditionally, farm support programs have dealt with commodity price dips and revenue erosion. We currently have volatile swings on the revenue side, but also crazy and fluctuating numbers on the expense side, whether it be feed, fertilizer, fuel, or other.

Twenty years after leaving university, I now know that farm policy design is not for the faint of heart, especially in the current environment. I’m happy to leave the job to others. The reality is, though, that traditional price or revenue support models are not going to be effective if the current environment persists. If you were given the task of designing farm support programs for tomorrow, where would you start? How would your program differ from what we see today?

Click here to join the discussion.

Peter Gredig
Farms.com


This commentary is for informational purposes only. The opinions and comments expressed herein represent the opinions of the author--they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Farms.com. This commentary is not intended to provide individual advice to anyone. Farms.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information, or for any damages or losses in any way related to this commentary.

Views: 52

▶ Reply to This

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

July Heat Wave Puts Midwest Corn and Soybeans Under Pressure

A major heat wave is building across the central and eastern United States, raising concerns for corn and soybean crops as July begins.

- Derecho climatology (Gaustini/Bosart): a corridor through the northern Plains/upper Midwest carries a >65% annual chance of a derecho-strength MCS, driven by northwest flow on the ridge's periphery. We must watch this region over the next 60 days. More on this below... - Cold North Atlantic: Years with the current North Atlantic cold-tongue pattern favor western troughs + heat pushing into the Midwest. Caveat: rapid warming on the south side of the cold plume means the simple composite likely understates the evolving pattern. Plus the Gulf of Alaska has been warming which could negate these impacts. See this part of the video for a deeper dive. - Modeling caution: During Summer, global models like the ECMWF and GFS are at their weakest due to coarse resolution and their inability to resolve convection. So we lean on the hi-res models like the HRRR and then ensembles for large scale anomalies. Be very careful with model forecasts to total precipitation... - National yield projection

A major heat wave is building across the central and eastern United States, raising concerns for corn and soybean crops as July begins. Nutrien’s Eric Snodgrass says producers should closely monitor high heat, overnight temperatures, derecho risk and dry pockets in key growing regions.

Swine Health Advisory Committee Sets Five Focus Areas

The Swine Health advisory committee is focused on turning strategy into action. To help advance the National Swine Health Strategy, the committee identified five focus areas that will drive action and measurable progress for U.S. pork producers. A Producer-Led Push for Swine Health Pork producers need a swine health strategy that actually works on the farm. The Swine Health advisory committee was created to make sure that happens. For the inaugural meeting in May, the advisory committee’s twenty-seven producers, veterinarians, USDA staff and packers/processors met in Des Moines and left with a clear direction: build on what’s working and accelerate action. The National Swine Health Strategy (NSHS) only succeeds if it reflects producers’ needs, and the advisory committee is responsible for ensuring it delivers. The advisory committee identified five focus areas to drive measurable progress in swine health. The Top 5 Focus Areas Driving Progress Build Industry Buy-In for the NSHS Fi

Closing the Gaps: New Research Investments Support Swine Disease Elimination

The Swine Disease Research task force recently funded new PRRSV and PEDV research projects that support National Swine Health Strategy priorities. These projects aim to close critical knowledge gaps and provide producers with practical information to support disease elimination efforts. Disease elimination doesn’t happen with a single breakthrough. It happens when the industry asks and answers the hard questions that still stand in the way. New research projects recently selected by the Swine Disease Research task force will address those hard questions. Each project aligns with the National Swine Health Strategy (NSHS) priority of eliminating endemic diseases, addresses key knowledge gaps and aims to deliver information to help producers make better herd health decisions. The latest research investments concentrate on two diseases that continue to challenge U.S. pork production: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV).

Cereals Canada 2025 Annual Report Highlights $12.8B Exports and Global Market Strength

Cereals Canada’s 2025 Annual Report underscores strong export performance, expanding global demand, and continued investment in quality, innovation, and customer relationships.

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service