AGRICULTURE REPORT - 2004 Good Year for U.S. Farmers

AGRICULTURE REPORT - 2004 Good Year for U.S. Farmers
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, January 04, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Two thousand four was a good year for American farmers. Total farm earnings¹ were estimated at seventy-four thousand million dollars for the year. That means the average farm income was about seventy-one thousand dollars, or a gain of about three percent from the year before.

However, the growth in earnings depended on the size of the farm. Large farms had increased earnings of six and one-half percent. Smaller farms saw growth in earnings of less than three percent.

Part of American farm income came from the federal government. The Department of Agriculture reports that about thirty-nine percent of farmers accepted some kind of aid, or subsidy², in two thousand three.

An organization called the Commodity Credit Corporation supervises farm aid. The C.C.C. is part of the Agriculture Department's Farm Services Agency.

The C.C.C. seeks to keep crop prices at balanced levels. The agency uses loan programs, direct payments and even buys crops to support prices. It also supervises emergency farm aid and special programs like the Fair and Equitable³ Tobacco Reform Act of two thousand four. That act ends price supports for tobacco farmers by offering them payments for up to ten years.

Reports say the total amount of farm aid paid last year is estimated at fifteen thousand seven hundred million dollars.

An organization called the Environmental Working Group keeps information on all farm subsidies⁴ paid by the government. The group examined subsidies between nineteen ninety-five and two thousand three.

It says ten percent of farms received seventy-two percent of government subsidies during that nine-year period. The group says big farms that are organized as corporation or partnership⁵ businesses receive the most aid. It says the big farms receive more aid, even when they are more profitable than smaller family farms.

Critics say farm subsidies are costly⁶ and wasteful⁷. Critics also note that subsidies go only to growers of widely traded crops, like corn, cotton, wheat and soybean.

But many farmers, including ones who only receive a few thousand dollars a year, support the subsidy programs. They say small farming communities in states like Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota would not survive without the aid.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Gwen Outen.

1 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

2 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

3 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。