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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 13h

I imagine that like many, he simply figured losing your markets doesn't matter bc bailouts will be on the way.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 13h

nope

the $ from farm programs always goes to the owners

David @dondanger.bsky.social · 18h

if he’s renting out the land wouldn’t the bailout money go to the renters?

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 20h

So here's the thing, the largest farms (including investors) benefit the most from bailouts. The conflict of interest is pointing towards "do bailouts," not "avoid bailouts."

did a whole video on it here etc www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD50...

AcreTrader, Bailouts, & The Future of US Farms

YouTube video by Farm to Taber

www.youtube.com

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 20h

Screenshot from the Scott Bessent "thousands of acres of soybean farms" story:

Screenshot from article. "The biggest potential conflict of interest for Mr. Bessent is his ownership of as much as $25 million of soybean and corn farmland in North Dakota. The land spans thousands of acres in Burleigh, Kidder, Eddy, Benson, and Wells Counties and earns Mr. Bessent as much as $1 million a year in rental income, according to his financial disclosure form."

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 21h

The 2018 farm bailouts were $20B, and the gov't had the money for them. (Funds for that bailout came from the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation).

This time? The gov't is shut down, USDA has no budget for it, and they're asking for $50B.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/u...

Trump to Unveil Farmer Aid as China Shuns U.S. Crops

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 21h

With farm bailouts back in the news, it's a great time to remind everyone that US Treasury Secretary Bessent owns thousands of acres of of soybean farms.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/u...

Bessent Has Yet to Fully Divest Assets, Raising Concern at Ethics Agency

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 23h

I mean, yeah, real

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

We've had a lot of news on how farm workers get abused.

Time to talk about how it's not actually that hard to put a stop to it. Real, actionable steps that work contained in this article 💪

www.propublica.org/article/h-2a...

Employers Have Exploited and Abused H-2A Farmworkers for Years. It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.

The seasonal visa program has failed to protect migrant farmworkers from wage theft, forced labor, violence and death. Experts, lawyers and advocates say there are ways to reduce and even stop the har...

www.propublica.org

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

or heck just make a couple mafia movies required viewing

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

there's a rich kid TikToker who posts genuinely insightful stuff about the 0.01% & also about how her dad treats her like a princess

so many replies say "wow it's so great to have parents who are actually good people!"

and like. based on context clues he's definitely an eastern european oligarch

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

Re: places where land can't be built on

I could make the same point w how my land situation is also not standard (currently urban farming, expanding to rural land this winter). But it still doesn't change the broader economics of rural private land, which are important & need to be talked about.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

"Separating the 'real' farmers from real estate investors" is really appealing but breaks down in real life. A lot of the biggest real estate developers in the US are just... the big farm families who own most of their home county. That's why the farm-to-housing pipeline is real.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

"Milords require more taxes from the people" is a real political discussion we're having in 2025

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

We could have picked any other ancient cultural trait to weirdly hang onto in the 21st century. Like posting fascinus-es everywhere. That would have at least been funny

But no we had to go with an unironic "awww forgive us for being filthy dumb peasants, milords" mindset.

In Murica of all places!

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

I'll take "things that make me wanna dump tea in a harbor" for one million dollars Alex

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

Yep. We have a massive political machine for teaching normal people to feel shame & "oh I guess my opinions & needs are less Real & Important" because.... of not being landed gentry.

And it WORKS.

Sarah Birnbaum ❌👑 @sarahvb.bsky.social · 3d

It‘s all just “decades of RW media have successfully convinced me that farmers are Real Americans and we City Folk are Not.” I have a lot of trouble escaping this mindset myself.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 1d

If someone who owns $13M worth of property can't do enough with it in an entire lifetime to pay an estate tax, they probably weren't managing it well.

It's not good for society when incompetent people own a lot of resources.

"But they'll break up estates!" Yes. That is the point.

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Reposted by Sarah Taber

Scaryname Jones @staciajones.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah I was a licensed crop/hail (and prop/casualty) agent in Kansas for a few years and the people everyone thinks of as "small farmers" sometimes own, like, entire counties

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

all due respect to the Farm Aid musician crowd but farm economics really just isn't their wheelhouse

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

🙏

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

Oh yeah the 1980s farm crisis was also not what most people think it was.

Got a buddy who did a great podcast on it that... now gives a 404 error??? uh oh

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

and if you feel the need to "Well actually"

watch the video first & then get back to me

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD50...

AcreTrader, Bailouts, & The Future of US Farms

YouTube video by Farm to Taber

www.youtube.com

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

If I hear "investors want farms to fail so they can buy them all up!" I'm gonna throw something

The last thing farm investors want is farms to go bankrupt. Because they own farms.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

History lesson: the best way to stop farm consolidation is stop doing bailouts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD50...

AcreTrader, Bailouts, & The Future of US Farms

YouTube video by Farm to Taber

www.youtube.com

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you! It's so frustrating! A living wage for farm work is doable, it's not like we're trying to go to the moon here people

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