I know I just wrote about the introduction of Your Farm but this is a separate story. Joel Jaeger at Your Farm has made a complete farm subsidy database available that’s easily searchable. You can find out why here.
With the launch of Your Farm, the company has produced the first online publishing of the USDA/Farm Service Agency (FSA) 1614 Database.
Previously published farm subsidy information has provided payment information that often stopped at the Partnership or other entity level. In contrast, the 1614 Database discloses payment information with specific attribution to the individual who received the payment. The information was released publicly by the FSA on December 19, 2006, but has not been available online until now.
“Any time we get a new look on data like this I think it is really important, not only for farmers but for the non-farm person,” said National Corn Growers Association President Ken McCauley when asked his opinion on the matter. “I think it would be good for farmers to visit Your Farm –to compare it and see if the farmer is portrayed in a better way. The non-farm public needs to be able to understand the real value of farm support. The way data has been compiled in the past has not always been in our favor.”
Echoing this perspective, Joel Jaeger added, “Historically, payment data has been published by lobbying organizations who have often presented the data in ways that support their agendas. We know there are many who have well founded perspectives that differ from those propagated by these groups and our objective at Your FarmSM is to provide a venue for those views to be expressed.”