Across the divide from the challenging realities of regulating nonpoint source pollution and agriculture reside the natural resource conservation policies for farmers contained in the omnibus legislation commonly known as the farm bill. The suite of conservation programs tend to avoid the sharp-edged debate surrounding environmental regulation, as well as the harsh criticism aimed at […]
Archive | July, 2014
Exploring Environmental Regulation of Agriculture
Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grabbed attention when it attempted to clarify the Clean Water Act by defining the term “waters of the United States.” Many in agriculture have raised concerns about the definition and how it would impact farming and property owners, adding a new chapter to the long-running debate regarding environmental […]
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Part 2 : TTIP, Regulatory Harmonization, and Non-tariff Barriers to Trade
The stated aims of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the United States and the European Union are to increase jobs, profits, and worker incomes on both sides of the Atlantic. At this still early date, four key studies have quantitatively assessed the projected economic benefits of such an accord (Ecorys, […]
Policy brief – food aid and small farmer subsidies
Governments and international aid agencies are transforming how food aid is procured and disbursed in the developing world. Agencies including the World Food Program now source some food aid within the region where it will be disbursed (for example, purchasing maize in Uganda for disbursal in other parts of East Africa). The 2014 Farm Bill […]