Catch 22

[JonS]

For some reason, when I read this story, I had very strong flashbacks to Catch 22.

From the article:

Introduced in the late 1980s, the system of paying farmers to set aside land from production was designed to discourage over-production after years in which Europe produced mountains of surplus food and drink, threatening commodity prices.

From Catch 22

Major Major’s father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a long-limbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him very well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major’s father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make sure that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counseled one and all, and everyone said, “Amen”.

[Stalins Organ]

Ahh...the joys of agricultural subsidies......

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Madness! In this day and age where there are literally millions of people starving around the world we have governments subsidising farmers NOT to grow anything. It's your classic Catch 22 example.

You have to love Joseph Heller's turn of phrase. "He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down."

Superb!

Regards

Jim R.

[Affentitten]

Mrs Affentitten is from rural France. The bedrock economy of the farmers there is not growing anything. Or rather, just growing enough to qualify as a farmer. So plenty of farms with a dozen cattle, an apple tree and one small paddock of canola. The other paddocks are paid for annually by the EU to do nothing. Except the farmers rent them out anyway as camping sites in the summer and caravan storage lots in the winter.

[Sergei]

Madness! In this day and age where there are literally millions of people starving around the world we have governments subsidising farmers NOT to grow anything. It's your classic Catch 22 example.

Yes, the French wine surplus would surely help the starving in Zimbabwe or North Korea.

The alternative is to subsidise exporting the surplus to developing countries, destroying the local agricultural sector and making them reliant. Even then there would be a surplus.

[Tero]

Yes, the French wine surplus would surely help the starving in Zimbabwe or North Korea.

The alternative is to subsidise exporting the surplus to developing countries, destroying the local agricultural sector and making them reliant. Even then there would be a surplus.

God forbid the consumers in their native markets should benefit from the "over" production as reduced prices......

Over here in Finland the private milk monopoly Valio announced the other day they'll be cutting the producer price of the milk by 5 cents while the decrease will not show in the consumer price.

The VAT reduction in food prices is up later this year.

[Lars]

Actually, according to the original article, it looks like the Brits are considering something along the lines of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) we have here.

Seems a good thing to me. Voluntary is always better than mandatory.

Been pretty successful in restoring wildlife habitat, actually. Of course, the ten year leases are running out, and we now make fuel out of corn...