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What Counts as a Farm? Bringing Real-World Conditions into Agricultural Policy | Clearing the Air

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September 10, 2026
Jenny Ifft
Eric Atkinson

What does it actually mean when policymakers say a proposal will affect "farmers"? The answer depends in part on which farms are being counted. In this episode of Clearing the Air on Agricultural Policy, Bart Fischer, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University, explains how farm-level analysis helps Congress and USDA understand the financial conditions facing working farms and the potential consequences of policy decisions.