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Farm subsidies inefficient and degrading, finds CSIRO
17 Oct 2005
Government subsidies for poor and drought-stricken farmers are doing more harm than good by encouraging struggling farmers to stay on the land, analysis by the CSIRO found. The report says that support for struggling farmers and agricultural industries suffering low commodity prices only prolongs their agony, stops good farmers from expanding and leads to land degradation. The report says it would be better to help farmers who could not keep their businesses viable in the face of economic or environmental forces to leave the land. They say the provision of "concessional finance" to the farming industry, even in exceptional circumstances, is typically "not only inequitable but also unnecessary and generally counterproductive" because it delays structural reforms.
The Australian, 17/10/05
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