Senator Kit Bond lies about cap and trade impact on MO farmers

[proud2BlibKansan]

Bond claims cap and trade cost of $11,000 for "average" Missouri farmer; figures suggest different story

Sen. Kit Bond told a Senate committee today that the House cap-and-trade energy legislation would cost "the average Missouri farmer an additional $11,000 a year in 2020," according to a statement issued by his office.

The figure, though, appears to wildly overestimate the average cost per farm in the state.

It's based on a study by MU's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, known as FAPRI. The study (attached below) found costs would go up by $11,649 annually for a "representative" 1,900-acre farm in Lafayette County, Mo. if the House cap-and-trade bill becomes law, increasing to $30,152 by 2050.

Bond used those figures in his statement.

But most Missouri farms are nowhere near 1,900 acres. In fact, the USDA says, more than 87 percent of Missouri farms are 500 acres or less. Less than 4 percent are between 1,000 and 2,000 acres.

The average Missouri farm, in 2007: 269 acres.

more . . . http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/19204#comment-

[galileoreloaded]

1. Not to pick, but as a representative in yield....cost per acre

it doesn't matter. As a percentage, it stays the same, regardless of size. Unit cost average, and all that.