Article by Brad Finney
In 2023, the existing Farm Bill expires. The policy underlying the current Farm Bill perpetuates a risky business model, imposes serious harms, and does little to feed the United States. It also costs American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars each year. This Article sets forth specific recommendations for the United States to implement to decrease its agriculture funding. These specific recommendations are based on New Zealand's overwhelming success--due largely to the temporary assistance measures New Zealand implemented to aid agriculture's successful transformation away from reliance on government funds. Unlike the failed 1996 attempt to eliminate agricultural subsidies in the United States, which did not utilize significant temporary assistance measures, the recommendations featured in this Article emphasize the importance of these measures.
U.S. agriculture's water pollution is one of the leading sources of environmental degradation. Its pollution has deleterious and pervasive effects on society including harming human health and diminishing the profitability of industries reliant on clean water--such as tourism and fishing. The federal government's lavish support of agriculture distorts free market signals, reduces agriculture's incentives to satisfy consumer demands, and tethers industry “success” to government funding.
This Article is the first to recommend that the United States use New Zealand's successful temporary assistance measures as a template. Although New Zealand is often pointed to as an example of a country that successfully reduced its financial support of the agriculture industry, the temporary assistance measures New Zealand used to reform its agriculture industry have yet to be given the credit they deserve. After closely analyzing New Zealand's successful reform, this Article concludes that the United States should reduce its funding of the industry's destructive behavior by implementing gradual reform that aids the industry's adjustment to a freer market by providing beneficial temporary assistance.
About the Authors
Bradley R. Finney is currently a federal law clerk for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming a clerk, he was an associate in the Houston office of Norton Rose Fulbright.
Citation
96 Tul. L. Rev. 563 (2022)