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by after_care 1634 days ago
1. Simplify the tax code for farms under a certain size. Farms basically require itemization for every expense.

2. Right to repair. Seriously, they cannot repair their own equipment.

3. Add legal protections against GMO companies. Or other large private companies. More than a few small farms have be buried in legal bills.

4. Stop putting corn ethanal in gas. Its a poor use of fresh water. It’s provided almost universally by large farms. It reduces the quality of gas. We are much less dependent on foreign energy than when this was put in place. I guess this one will mostly sort itself out with electrification.

5. Universal healthcare. Or affordable healthcare for small businesses in general. Farming is very accident prone work.

6. Put stricter health regulations on animal husbandry. Big ag animal farms are some of the least sanitary work environments in the US, I’d rather shovel coal.

Edit: Bonus, consider loosening drone regulations for rural areas. They are valuable surveying tools, and line of sight requirements is unnecessary in many agri situations

1 comments

While not endorsing or rejecting your list completely, I'd just like to point out for others that "innovating regulation" is a thing - to the extent that a large corporation can lobby for new, burdensome regulation that only companies of a certain size can afford to comply with, they create large barriers to entry into markets and crush the margins of smaller organizations. This is the case in all industries, not just farming. Anytime you see a corporation advocating for regulation, the first thought shouldn't be "oh, that's admirable," it should be, "how will this affect their competitive landscape?"