Federal farm spending is split between two fundamentally different ideas: paying farmers to produce crops (commodity subsidies) and paying farmers to protect the environment (conservation programs). The balance between them reveals our priorities.
🌿 Conservation Programs
20 programs · Pays to protect land
🌾 Commodity Programs
10 programs · Pays to produce crops
How Conservation Works
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest conservation program, paying farmers annual rental payments to take environmentally sensitive land out of production. The idea is simple: some land is worth more to society as habitat, watershed protection, or carbon sink than as cropland.
How Commodity Programs Work
Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) are the main commodity programs. They pay farmers when crop prices or revenues fall below historical benchmarks. The intent is to smooth income volatility, but critics argue they primarily benefit large-scale commodity producers who could absorb market swings without taxpayer help.
The Debate
Conservation advocates argue that CRP and similar programs provide measurable public benefits: cleaner water, wildlife habitat, reduced soil erosion, and carbon sequestration. Commodity program supporters counter that keeping farms profitable ensures food security and rural economic stability.
The data shows that emergency and disaster spending has eclipsed both traditional categories. But when Congress writes the farm bill, the conservation vs. commodity debate still drives the biggest allocation decisions.