Editing Agricultural policy (section)

=== Overview: Europe and America ===
{{main|Agricultural policy of the United States|Common Agricultural Policy}}
The farmer population is approximately five percent of the total population in the E.U. and 1.7% in the U.S.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} The total value of agricultural production in the E.U. amounted to 128 billion euros (1998). About forty-nine percent of this amount was accounted for by political measures: 37 billion euros due to direct payments and 43 billion euros from consumers due to the artificially high price. Eighty percent of European farmers receive a direct payment of 5,000 euros or less, while 2.2% receive a direct payment above 50,000 euros, totaling forty percent of all direct subsidies.

The average U.S. farmer receives $16,000 in annual subsidies. Two-thirds of farmers receive no direct payments. Of those that do, the average amount amongst the lowest paid eighty percent was $7000 from 1995 to 2003. Subsidies are a mix of tax reductions, direct cash payments and below-market prices on water and other inputs. Some claim that these aggregate figures are misleading because large [[agribusiness]]es, rather than individual farmers, receive a significant share of total subsidy spending. The [[Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996]] reduced farm subsidies, providing fixed payments over a period and replacing price supports and subsidies. The [[Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002]] contains direct and [[countercyclical]] payments designed to limit the effects of low prices and yields.

In the EU, €54 billion of subsidies are paid every year. An increasing share of the subsidies is being decoupled from production and lumped into the Single Farm Payment. While this has diminished the distortions created by the Common Agricultural Policy, many critics argue that a greater focus on the provision of public goods, such as biodiversity and clean water, is needed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reformthecap.eu|title=reformthecap.eu|website=www.reformthecap.eu}}</ref> The next major reform is expected for 2014 when a new long-term EU budget is coming into effect.