I can explain this one. (Which Trump apparently can’t.)
There used to be taxes on diesel fuel. Farms and some other businesses were exempt from the tax. (I don’t know if this is still true.) So they were sold diesel fuel with a red dye in it. This was to indicate that this untaxed diesel fuel was only supposed to be used on farms; it couldn’t be resold to other businesses. If an inspector found a commercial truck with red fuel in its tank, they would fine the owner.
Despite what Trump said, it wasn’t better than any other diesel fuel. It was literally the same product just with some dye added to change its color.
Yes, it’s still true. Diesel fuel for off-road equipment is not subject to the highway tax, and is marked with the red dye. If you were driving on the highway and got caught with red-dyed diesel in your fuel tank, you would be subject to a heavy fine. ISTM that the fine is 10 bucks per gallon.
And this has always been bullshit. Farm equipment does massive damage to county roads and highways. Huge farm equipment with gigantic lugged tires being driven from field to field do immediately noticeable damage to roads. Yet, they don’t contribute money to repair that damage. Cool.
The government wants farmers to grow food, and they want to keep their expenses down so they don’t pass them on to consumers. It’s not about who owes whom what, it’s what’s deemed best for the economy.
The amazing “stopped clock” thing about it is, a lot of people didn’t actually know that. It’s not just Trump hearing about it for the first time and claiming it wasn’t common knowledge.
On the other hand, his most earnest supporters include a lot of farmers, and they would naturally already know
Mind you, I like having access to food. I would just like to know the relative benefits to small / family farms vs mega-corporate farming conglomerates.
Subsidies are based on acreage. Around these parts (central Kansas) a ‘small’ farm is about 1,000 acres. So if the subsidy is 25 bucks an acre, that farmer receives $25,000.00. A large farm might be 10-20 times that size, and the subsidy is 10-20 times as large.
The acreage of a farm will also vary, depending on what sort of farming is being done.
The farms you have in central Kansas are likely grain farms – probably wheat, or corn/soybeans*. 20+ years ago, when I had the big ag processor ADM as a client, I did a lot of focus groups with grain farmers, and back then, I learned from them that they had to farm at least 1200 acres in order to make enough money to cover their fixed costs (tractor, combine, etc.) That number may well be higher now.
Family dairy farms up in my home state of Wisconsin are usually smaller than that: they typically do have fields for growing crops (usually corn and/or alfalfa) to use as feed (including converting it into silage for the winter months), but they usually don’t need nearly as much land as do grain farmers.
You are absolutely correct. Wheat and soybeans, with increasing acreages of corn, with new dryland varieties. Very, very few dairies around here anymore, so there’s no need for alfalfa or ensilage crops.
I have a childhood friend who’s still farming because he has to pay his wife’s medical bills–she has advanced dementia. His farm is right at 1,000 acres, and his equipment is all at least 20 years old.
So let them destroy those cities is, in fact, I have proactively prevented such attacks. Orwell is in his grave spinning faster than Superman did to save Lois Lane.
