The Size of a One-Person Farm: 2,000 Acres?

From FarmDocDaily's discussion of possible payment limitations on crop insurance:

A significant number of family farms with one full-time operator would exceed acre limits between 1,800 and 2,700 acres.

That's bigger than the average Illinois grain farm.  I continue to be amazed by how productive our farms are.

Conservatives Against Farm Bill

The good folks at Washington Times find conservatives who see dangers in the new farm bill as reported out by Senate Ag--if prices drop the government's exposure increases.

Wish I Was the Lovable Fool

From Barking Up the Wrong Tree:

"The best predictor of team success in the workplace is how the members feel about one another. In a choice between working with a lovable fool and a competent jerk, people almost always choose the lovable fool no matter what they say they want."

Sodsaver Provision

The Sustainable Ag coalition blogs about sodsaver/cross compliance here.  They say:

While the Sodsaver provision in the Senate bill does not, as we had proposed, deny all crop insurance subsidies on newly broken out land, it does provide for a 50 percent reduction in the subsidy.  It also includes two important provisions that prevent people from gaming the system to increase their revenue insurance coverage at the expense of taxpayers and the environment.  One keeps the newly broken out land isolated from other crop acres the producer may have when calculating insurable yields.  The other requires the operator to take a percentage of the county average yield until being able to show a multi-year yield history.

They go on to note a similar provision in the 2008 act was neutered. I assume enforcing this would require the insurance agents to access FSA data.

I wonder how the GIS system handles history--can you go back through historical land use layers?  This sort of issue, breaking out "noncropland" for annual crops has been a perennial issue in ag programs.  One question I'm not sure ever got answered is: does cropland ever become noncropland, when "noncropland" the land hasn't yet been devoted to "nonagricultural uses".

I remember one of the Great Plains state specialists assuring me that the county office would know the different between land which had once been cropped and land which had never been cropped.  I was dubious then and am more dubious today.

On the Lack of French Snacks and French Slim

Via Tyler Cowen, a post arguing that the French, particularly French kids, don't snack.  I wonder, no vending machines? (Tried to do some research--this article says Japan has 10 times the number of vending machines as France, but it's twice the population.  In 2008 France banned all vending machines from schools).

And this, from Chris Blattman is a video showing how the French stay slim. Of course it involves sex, what else?

Ben Franklin and Tofu

Don't really know how I feel about this: Ben Franklin is one of my heroes, and a great bureaucrat.  Vegetarians and foodies I've reservations about.  But Boston 1775 reveals Ben Franklin discovered tofu for America!

A Good Paragraph

"The question for the rest of this election is how to judge what matters and what doesn't. I'd argue that we -- that is to say, you and I -- can't: If you're reading Wonkbook right now, you're really, really weird. You start your day with a policy e-mail. That's not how most Americans do it. And if you're weird, think about how weird I am: I start my day by writing a policy e-mail. There is no reason on earth for you to believe that I have some special insight into the mind of the average swing voter. Quite the opposite, actually."

From Ezra Klein at Wonkbook.

The Myth of Texas Football

Texas football is supposedly all-encompassing  I recently noted that a high school in Texas had a bigger weight room than the Redskins (was that RGIII'?). 

But maybe that's a myth--note the second graphic in this post, which shows the home states of NFL players in proportion to their population.  Texas is not first, nor is Florida.  Instead  Louisiana and Mississippi top the list with a number of other states (like Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania)in the next category.  Texas is in the third category (no higher than 11th), along with such states as Connecticutt.

How Congresspeople Keep Groups Happy

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition posts about the bill coming out of Senate Ag.  They include this:

The latter [the matching grant initiative, part of SARE] was authorized by Congress, along with the rest of SARE, back in 1990, but to date it has never received an appropriation.

Pardon my cynicism, but what that tells me is for 22 years someone in Congress is doing a song and dance keeping the (few) people behind SARE and the grant idea happy, or if not happy at least supportive in terms of dollars and votes, by reauthorizing the provision each farm bill but never appropriating the money.  To quote someone in the movies: "show me the money".

McDonalds Is Special, in France

Dirk Beauregarde discusses the role of McDonalds in France:

Twenty or so years ago, McDonald’s were at best tolerated and at worst unwelcome in many French towns. They were the symbols of lousy nutrition and American colonisation. Nowadays, McDonalds are part and parcel of the French cullinary landscape . In my corner of small town France we have four McDonald’s outlets, two of which offer a 24/24 7 day a week drive in service. However,, in consumption terms, McDonalds is still at « treat status ». Most families will have a McDonald’s once or even twice a month. We are not at daily consumption. Most popular mealtime of the week a tour local McDonald’s – Sunday lunchtime- all the local outlets are packed. 

[Emphasis added]