The Washington Post’s All-Ag Editorial Page

The Washington Post had quite a farmy editorial page today. The paper's lead editorial noted that the Senate had begun (finally) to debate the farm bill, which the paper describes as a "gigantic Christmas present." The Post recounts the detailed stories the paper has published over the last year on what passes for "rural development" in the federal government — subsidizing movie theaters and museums in swank resort communities, like Provincetown (above).What should happen in rural development is not part of the editorial.Meanwhile, former president Jimmy Carter writes that the farm bill's crop subsidy system "punishes small-scale farmers in the United States and is devastating to families in many of the world's least affluent countries." Carter prefers a crop insurance program that would protect farms against excessive losses.