My map series, "Maps of Farm Bill Impacts," shows net farm bill impacts for 10 commodity crops and dairy, for the lower 48 states (with Alaska and Hawaii included in calculations for the Pacific region). This contrasts with the map series at USDA, the "Farm Program Atlas," which looks only at government spending, at money going TO farmers.
While it's important to know about money going TO farmers, it's even more important to also know about money taken away FROM farmers by Congress through the various Farm Bills and Farm Programs since 1953. This then reverses the conclusions.
We see, then, that especially the various "farm states" (like all states,) are net Farm Bill losers, not winners, as is so often assumed. We see, then, that states like Iowa, with two Senators and a Representative on the ag committees, (and a long history of similar involvement,) have been hurt by the actions of Congress, not helped. As it turns out, Iowa often looks like the biggest farm bill winner, because it has received the biggest subsidies. As a NET result, however, Iowa is the biggest Farm Bill Loser. This relates to my recent blog at Daily Kos, "Farm Bill Failures Via ‘Divide and Conquer:’ A Simple Visual Comparison."
Activists at Daily Kos need to know that, in the past, progressive Democrats, with help from the Black Caucus (100% support), were the leaders in trying to change these results. We saw that in the Harkin-Gephardt Farm Bill (variously named, ie. Farm Policy Reform Act, Save the Family Farm Act). These included, in addition to Tom Harkin (IA) and Dick Gephardt (MO), Tom Daschle (SD), Paul Wellstone (MN) and Paul Simon (IL), for example. Those efforts ended when Harkin became Senate ag chair.
For further explanation, and to understand methodology, operational definitions and standards, see an accompanying blog, "First Ever? Map of Farm Bill NET Impacts," ZSpace, 6/12/13. Note that, while there are a number of limits to the methods I've used, they have enabled me to show, in simple, pictorial form, farm bill realilties that most activists have never seen. They show a very different and much larger paradigm of what a farm bill is. This larger paradigm then also radically changes the interpretation of farm bill justice, (of farm and food justice,) leading then to a very different paradigm of strategy, as discussed in the blog on "Divide and Conquer," linked above. See also my series of 10 slides illustrating the differences between the two paradigm, "Hidden Farm Bill Pie."
All 50 States in Data Charts of Farm Bill Impacts
The data behind the maps is also shown in NEWly posted charts in a series called, "State Farm Bill Impacts." These charts show both the subsidies and the value changes (reductions,) for both commodity crops and for dairy, that together make up the net impacts.
This data is grouped by region, and includes the data for all 50 states, (ie. including Alaska and Hawaii).
NOTE: One of the standards of the analysis, (which relies on USDA-NASS data, as found in the annual, Agricultural Statistics,) is that the states must register in the annual in order for the data to be used. If, for a given commodity crop, for example, the production and prices are so small (on some years or on all years,) that USDA does not include them in the book, then it is also not seen here. We see, then, that data for some states for crops does not show up at all.