Editor:
The “farm bill,” as quoted by Farm and Dairy editor Susan Crowell, is 75 percent not directed to the “farm.” May I venture to say that another 20 percent of that remains is welfare for bankers, lawyers, politicians and multinational corporations. That leaves less than 10 billion dollars to benefit farmers.
If I had a herd of 100 dairy cows and only five were productively profitable , the butcher would be a very busy man! If I had 100 sows and only five produced pigs, hams bacon and sausage would be on the menu. If my wife had 100 laying hens and she gathered only five eggs a day, the preacher could count on having chicken pot pie for a long time!
Ninety-five percent of the Department of Agriculture should be culled; it is just another form, or should I say an extension, of the Department of Welfare. Presidential candidate Ron Paul wants to eliminate five federal departments — may I suggest he add the Department of Agriculture to the list?
Real farmers, who milk cows and not the tax payers, are what the country needs, and not corporate welfare for the drones and dregs of society.
John R. Beveridge
Hermitage, Pa.
yes let the farmers milk.
The USDA is a bureaucracy. Many of the county and state offices could be closed. It is unclear who would miss them other than their employees.