Acreage dropped by about 22 percent in Texas, the national leader, and by nearly 20 percent in California, which ranks seventh in domestic production. Cotton also has lost ground for another reason that became apparent this week as the Senate debated the 2007 farm bill: The United States' cotton subsidy program is enmeshed in a global trade battle. The current bill on the Senate floor leaves those programs virtually intact, despite the threat of further legal complaints and concerns that...

As the Chairman of the Sub-committee of the National Development Council for the agriculture sector, I had taken a close look on various issues that have been affecting agriculture such as irrigation, natural resource management, animal husbandry, agro-climatic zonal planning, marketing, credit, technology, land and global issues. The pattern of production in the recent past, particularly that of oilseeds and pulses has not maintained pace with demand causing substantial import dependence....

Critics point out that under the current system only about one-third of farmers who produce five row crops - corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice - receive the program's $16 billion in annual subsidies. But despite unprecedented calls for reform, the farm bill now before the Senate - and backed by large agriculture interests - looks likely to be an extension of the current law. The five-year 2007 farm bill would extend the 2002 law that governs farm subsidies and nutrition programs,...

The bill on the Senate floor leaves those programs virtually intact, despite the threat of further legal complaints and concerns that international sanctions ultimately could cause layoffs and patchy unemployment. Last month, the World Trade Organization ruled subsidies handed out to American cotton farmers broke international trade laws, opening the door for foreign countries to levy billions of dollars in penalties against the U. cotton industry officials said they were hoping that the...

Either your plan works, allowing you to make a living, or it doesn't, indicating you should find a different line of work. A lot of American agriculture operates in an environment where none of the usual rules apply -- where the important thing is not catering to the consumer, but tapping the Treasury. You try to give customers something they want at a price low enough to keep them happy but high enough to earn a profit. Instead, Washington will send you a check based on the amount of a...