La petite maison dans Manhattan

[José]

On le sait : les États-Unis subventionnent autant l'agriculture que l'Union européenne. Et ces subsides sont loin d'aider les pôvres petits agricules. Yuval Levin a repris sur un plan de Manhattan l'emplacement de nombres de percepteurs de ces subsides (les gros points représentent ceux qui perçoivent plus de 250.000 dollars par an.

Down on the Farm

[Yuval Levin]

Have a look at the map of Manhattan below (used recently by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in a speech). The red dots indicate people who live in Manhattan (and so clearly are neither hurting for money nor tilling the soil on the family farm) but receive agricultural subsidies from the federal government.

The larger red blobs mark people receiving more than a quarter of a million dollars in farm subsidies annually.

The farm bill passed by House Democrats in July would continue giving millionaires farm subsidies (setting the income threshold for payments at $1 million a year, and keeping loopholes in place that allow some making much more to qualify). The Bush administration has proposed sharply reducing the income threshold to $200,000 a year and ending many of those loopholes. That would reduce the number of subsidy recipients by less than 40,000 (of the current million or so recipients)—though I suppose it might put some rooftop gardens on Park Avenue out of commission.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M…ZTQyNTcyMWU4ZjQ

[Jesrad]

Je cultive du raisin, des fraises, des tomates et des framboises sur mon balcon. Quel formulaire dois-je remplir pour percevoir des subventions ?

[WALDGANGER]

Ca serait super d'avoir la même chose pour Paris.

[h16]

Je cultive du raisin, des fraises, des tomates et des framboises sur mon balcon. Quel formulaire dois-je remplir pour percevoir des subventions ?

Ajoute un ou deux cochons (d'Inde, au besoin), et hop, te voilà éleveur porcin !

Ca serait super d'avoir la même chose pour Paris.

J'allais faire la même réflexion !

[WALDGANGER]

J'allais faire la même réflexion !

Ca fait un moment que je sens qu'il y a quelque chose entre nous

[h16]

Oui. Des centaines de km.

[L.F.]

Ajoute un ou deux cochons (d'Inde, au besoin), et hop, te voilà éleveur porcin !

Ou mieux encore : non-éleveur porcin !

My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the "not rearing pigs" business. In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy. I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?

As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any government or local authority courses on this? My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for 40 years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is - until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.

If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?

Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don't rear?

I am also considering the "not milking cows" business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current Defra advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares). In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits.

I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.