Agriculture is a big part of our economy, especially here in North Texas.  According to Wichita County Agricultural Extension agent Fred Hall, Wichita County doesn’t have all that much in the way of cotton.  But move west, into Wilbarger County and beyond and up to 80 percent of agricultural revenues are in cotton, both dry land and irrigated.  Farm subsidies have been the subject of much debate for a long, long time.  The Grain Futures Act and the Capper-Volstead Act, both passed during the 1920’s, ushered in the modern era of price supports and subsidies for farmers and ranchers.

Today, it’s the farmer who benefits most from farm bills.  Or is it?  When you and I think of ‘farm bills’, we tend to think of farmers collecting money to plant more, or plant less or perhaps not plant at all.  Or we think of farmers getting reimbursed for losses due to fires, floods, etc.., right?  This is one you probably never considered:  an agricultural organization using millions of your tax dollars to finance …a reality show!   No, you won’t see Snooki  pulling  a plow (though I would advocate throwing some money at that-you know it would be funny), but prepare to have your eyes bleed after reading this nonsense!

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