Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

Shorty after Brazil pledged a 20% increase in its now $64 billion subsidy budget (up six-fold over the past decade), Thailand made a startling admission about its massive rice subsidies. According to yesterday’s Wall Street Journal:

Thailand's government took a step toward disclosing the full cost of its rice-price support program, saying it had lost 136 billion baht, or $4.4 billion, on the subsidy from fall 2011 to September 2012.

Prime Minister's Office Minister Varathep Rattanakorn said the losses [subsidy] from the 2012 to 2013 rice season hadn't been calculated…

As our global competitors are busy ramping up subsidies, U.S. farmers have agreed to steep budget cuts in the 2013 Farm Bill in the name of deficit reduction – and farm policy spending has already been in steadily decline over the past decade.

Harmful Farm Bill amendments to weaken U.S. policy further do nothing but jeopardize U.S. jobs and weaken the U.S. economy. Reject unilateral disarmament. Keep farm policy strong.

Farm Policy Facts