Mulch - I've often wondered why so many farmers seem to think a New Yorker paying $2,300 a month for an efficiency, or a suburbanite buying a four dollar latte for the cup holder of her $40,000 SUV, will register shocked sympathy upon hearing that a combine (whatever that is) costs $180,000--when you couldn't touch a 1 BDR condo for that price on either coast. Someone's out of touch here, and I'm not sure its all of us who supposedly don't know milk doesn't come in a carton. My experience is just the opposite. I've seen many a farmer's eyes widen at the prices on a DC menu (though it must be said they invariably fight you for the check), and many a... 
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Globalisation Institute - The absurdity of EU farm subsidies was exposed again today with a report in The Times that people who have never set foot on a farm are receiving thousands of pounds from taxpayers. Technically, the subsidies can only go to farmers, however, the definition of farmer has been relaxed so greatly over the years that to be classified as one, you now only need to own 1.7 hectares of land for a ten month period and you never even need to visit it.
The situation arose because the EU gave farmers the automatic right to subsidies in order to reduce production. Many farmers then sold on these rights in order to retire or to buy new equipment. The...
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