Trumponomics did not cause a decrease in the number of farms in South Dakota last year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of farms and the amount of land being farmed in South Dakota remained unchanged in 2019. South Dakota started and finished 2019 with 29,600 farms covering 43,200,000 acres.
The average size of a farm in South Dakota remains 1,459 acres, 2.28 square miles. That’s like farming most of the residential area of Madison. South Dakota’s average farm size is the sixth largest in the U.S.: North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming (the largest at 2,417, over four full square miles) have larger average spreads, and Arizona is the only other state with an average farm acreage in four digits (1,379). Nationally, the average farm size is 444 acres; in Minnesota, the average farm size is 375 acres; in Iowa, 359 acres.
The number of South Dakota farms with a million dollars or more of sales ticked up last year from 2,250 to 2,300. Those mega-farms actually took up a little less land, down from 13,300,000 acres in 2018 to 13,200,000 acres in 2019. Those 7.8% of farms with millon-dollar sales thus take up about 31% of South Dakota’s farm land and have an average size of 5,739 acres, 8.97 square miles, equal to the size of most of Brookings.
drumpf is using then treasury to buy farmer’s votes, again. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/21/trump-teases-more-trade-bailout-money-for-farmers-116591
The government will support wealthy farmers until trade comes back and China will pay for it with tariffs (lie), just like the previous 2 bailouts.
The process of the farm bail out is troubling. 1) It is twice the size of the auto bailout. 2) It has not been discussed in congress (the auto bailout was FIERCELY discussed and had opposition). 3) It is 100% allowing poor political decisions by the President to be immunized from their consequences on the voters it affects. 4) Unlike the auto bailout, it will not be repaid.
I remember the OUTRAGE over the auto bailout, and now the farm bailout is unquestioned.
Very good points that should be hammered into wingnut heads daily, O.
I know. The amount of $ our Stupid Spree-ster throws around is shocking. He has no monetary or economic sense at all.
Twice the size of the auto bailout? Casual Googlage tells me we spent $80 billion to pull Chrysler and GM out of the ditch. Mike’s article tells us farmers have taken $23 billion in Trump welfare bribes. Do you have some other figures to help understand the “twice the size” claim, O?
Well, if the powers that be want to keep the current system going they will have to put up a lot of cash. The only thing that US agriculture is efficient at is eliminating labor. By any other measure it is very inefficient. Factor in the fact that virtually all feed grains are being produced for a vertically integrated meat industry that benefits by being able to feed those animal’s as cheaply as possible and this is the agriculture you get! Gotta get those hogs to China!!
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/02/trumps-tariffs-inflamed-a-farm-crisis-his-latest-plan-would-make-it-even-worse/
drumpf wants a 31% cut in a program that subsidizes crop insurance payments and a 10 % cut in set aside acres. And there is more.