The United States is the most developed agricultural country in the world today. It is also the only country in the world with an annual per capita grain output of more than 1 ton, and is the largest grain exporter. In addition to its unique natural conditions, the tradition of "building a country based on agriculture" and a complete agricultural support and protection system are important guarantees for the sustainable and stable development of American agriculture. 1. Characteristics of U.S. Agriculture (1) World-leading agricultural modernization and agricultural productivity With the development of industry, the proportion of agriculture in the U.S. economy has gradually declined. However, the government has adopted policies to support and protect agriculture, making U.S. agriculture in the It still has the strongest competitiveness in the world. The main products whose production volume ranks among the top in the world are soybeans, cereals, poultry, pork, beef, and milk. In 2007, U.S. agricultural exports totaled US$77 billion, and export revenue accounted for a quarter of all cash income from agricultural products. (2) Based on highly commercialized family farms. The “Homestead Act” enacted in 2001 laid the foundation for family farms in the United States. There are currently 2.04 million farms in the country, with an average size of 193.4 hectares; there are more than 2 million agricultural laborers, accounting for about 2% of the country's total labor force. The number of small farms exceeds 90% and accounts for 70% of the entire agricultural assets. At present, the number of "corporate farms" is constantly rising, with approximately more than 70,000. Although the number is small, their area and sales account for a large proportion of American farms. (3) Agricultural production is highly regionalized and integrated. In 1914, American agriculture had achieved planting specialization to a large extent. Agricultural production and marketing realize the integration of "from field to table". The agricultural system in the United States is called "agri-industrial enterprise", and its employment accounts for 17% of the national labor force, which is much higher than the labor force that agriculture itself can absorb. The American Agricultural Society is a farmer's voluntary organization founded in 1919 and has a history of nearly 100 years. There are currently 6 million members, mainly farmers (80% of individual farmers nationwide participate in the association) and small producers or individuals related to or interested in agriculture. The main responsibilities of the Agricultural Cooperative are: to collect opinions and suggestions from members through associations in various states across the country, hold an annual meeting in January every year, formulate corresponding policies that represent the wishes of the majority of farmers, such as agricultural taxation, environmental protection, government investment, etc., and represent farmers Lobby in Congress and strive to turn farmers' suggestions into federal policy support. The association is a non-governmental department with no government funding, and its daily expenses rely on membership dues paid by its members. 2. U.S. Agricultural Support and Protection System As a policy system, the agricultural protection system originated in the United States in the early 1930s. The current agricultural support and protection policy system in the United States mainly includes the following aspects: (1) Income support system direct subsidies. It is an income support provided to producers based on historical yields and planting area. The agricultural products covered include wheat, feed grains, rice, upland cotton, oilseeds and peanuts. Farmers who receive direct subsidies have the right to decide independently what crops to plant. The subsidy has nothing to do with farmers' planting plans, and each farm can receive up to $40,000 in direct subsidies per year. Countercyclical subsidies. It refers to the income support provided to producers when the effective price is lower than the target price. The agricultural products covered are the same as direct subsidies. The target price is determined by national regulations, and the effective price refers to the sum of the direct subsidies received by producers plus the higher of the market price or the transaction loan program. Each farm can receive up to $65,000 in countercyclical subsidies per year. National dairy market loss subsidies. To provide an income safety net for dairy producers. If the monthly price of a certain grade of milk is lower than the determined price, direct subsidies can be obtained on a monthly basis. Each dairy farm can provide up to 2.4 million pounds of milk per year (equivalent to the milk production of 135 cows) under this subsidy. Special Disaster Assistance. It is used to provide partial economic compensation to producers in the event of severe weather, delayed disasters or adverse economic conditions. The program has been launched in 10 of the past 20 years. Transaction assistance loans and loan shortfall subsidies. Coverage is wider. Producers are allowed to repay at market prices when the market price is lower than the principal and interest of the loan, thus bringing a benefit called "trading loan income" to producers. If producers do not want to participate in the Trade Assistance Loan Scheme, another direct subsidy is available, the Loan Gap Subsidy. Crop and income insurance. The government provides large-scale premium subsidies to institutions engaged in agricultural insurance, allowing producers to generally participate in agricultural insurance at lower rates. Provide loss subsidies to producers when their yields or income are below average. (2) Price support system The price support system currently implemented in the United States only applies to a few agricultural products such as sugar, tobacco, milk and dairy products, and mainly includes the following four types: Agricultural product loan program. Producers use unharvested agricultural products as collateral to obtain a loan from the government's Agricultural Products Credit Corporation to maintain normal agricultural production. When the market price is higher than the target price, the farmer can sell the agricultural products at the market price and use cash to repay the principal and interest. If the market price is lower than the target price, the farmer can hand over the agricultural products to the agricultural product credit company. Government procurement. It is used to strictly control the supply of milk on the market and ensure that the price of raw milk used to produce butter, cheese, or skimmed milk powder is consistent with the determined government support price for bottled milk to support the market price of dairy products. Tariffs and rate quotas. Provide price support for agricultural products by restricting the import of low-priced products.

The average import tariff rate for U.S. agricultural products is only 12%, which is the lowest among all members of the World Trade Organization. However, the United States has higher import tariffs on dairy products, sweeteners and tobacco. Tax rate quotas mainly apply to peanuts, tobacco, beef, dairy products, sugar, cotton and some other commodities. Export subsidies. Refers to a series of institutional measures formulated by the U.S. government to encourage exports of agricultural products aimed at expanding exports, such as price subsidies for agricultural products, lowering the price of U.S. exports of agricultural products, and plans to expand export demand. Provide credit guarantees to exporters to expand exports of U.S. agricultural products. (3) Credit support system The agricultural credit system in the United States is divided into a national credit system and a commercial credit system. The national credit system is affiliated to the federal government and includes the National Agricultural Credit Administration and the Agricultural Credit Institutions. It has strong policy investment and financing functions and mainly provides farmers with long-term, medium-term and short-term loans and production loans. The USDA's Agricultural Products Credit Company mainly provides short-term loans to farmers using unsaleable agricultural products as collateral to support agricultural product prices to stabilize the income of agricultural producers. It uses this financial means to implement government intervention and regulation on the sales and production of agricultural products, providing farmers with The Lord provides very convenient conditions and means for raising and using funds. (4) Other support systems such as “Transaction Order” and “Environmental Plan”. The former applies to dairy products and specific fruits and vegetables to create a good trading environment, while the latter encourages producers to comply with relevant resource protection requirements in order to obtain various policy subsidies. Another example is the government providing financial support to build large wholesale markets for agricultural products to reduce the transaction costs of agricultural products. 3. Problems in U.S. Agriculture U.S. agriculture has high labor productivity. While it continues to develop steadily, it also exposes some problems and deficiencies worthy of attention. First, a large amount of energy is consumed and the energy utilization rate is low. Modern agriculture in the United States is a typical "energy-intensive agriculture." The food consumed by each person in the United States in a year is produced with about one ton of gasoline. Not only is a large amount of non-renewable energy consumed, but the energy utilization rate is also very low. Second, agriculture is highly dependent on the international market. About 1/5 of U.S. agricultural products are exported. Third, the use of a large amount of grains to make ethanol will increase the pressure on the supply and demand balance of world agricultural products. Fourth, agricultural production lacks diversity in varieties, which increases the risk of biological diseases. Fifth, agricultural land and farmers are still decreasing. Due to the impact of agricultural efficiency and taxation, the amount of agricultural land in the United States is also decreasing. Some young people are unwilling to engage in agricultural production, and farmers are aging seriously. As the most developed U.S. agriculture in the world, we cannot compare its natural conditions and other objective advantages, but its development ideas and concepts, as well as its support and protection of agriculture, are worthy of our study and reference. (1) Further strengthen support and protection for agriculture and establish and improve systems and mechanisms to ensure agricultural development. Since the reform and opening up, my country's agricultural support and protection policies have been continuously strengthened. However, compared with mature market economy countries such as the United States, my country's agricultural support and protection The level is still very low, and the support and protection mechanisms are still far from perfect. First, the total domestic support for agriculture is low. Secondly, the support structure is also unreasonable. Third, there are many subsidy categories and high costs. Fourth, we have not yet formed a complete agricultural support and protection policy system. In accordance with the goal of "forming a new pattern of integrated urban and rural social and economic development" proposed by the 17th National Congress, we must further adjust the national income distribution pattern, establish an investment guarantee mechanism to promote modern agricultural construction, and accelerate the establishment of a stable growth mechanism for agricultural investment. Continue to implement and increase various direct subsidies to farmers, and improve the comprehensive direct subsidy system for agricultural inputs. Actively study and improve subsidy methods, and direct subsidies to farmers should be as simple and efficient as possible. It is necessary to change the practice of relying solely on direct government relief and actively pilot natural disaster subsidies that combine agricultural insurance with disaster relief. (2) Increase agricultural investment and further improve agricultural infrastructure construction. The core of agricultural support and protection is investment support. In the United States, there is basically no difference between urban and rural areas. A very important symbol is the equal access to social public services between urban and rural areas. In order to promote the sustainable development of agriculture, the U.S. government invests in the construction and maintenance of large-scale water conservancy and other infrastructure every year. For water conservancy and hydropower projects, the investment in flood control and environmental parts is generally borne by the federal government and is not required to be repaid. The investment in irrigation only requires the return of principal, while the investment in power generation and urban water supply requires the return of principal and interest. The basic conditions for agricultural production in my country are weak and the development of rural social undertakings is lagging behind. Strengthening the construction of agricultural infrastructure focusing on water conservancy and accelerating the development of rural social undertakings will be important tasks for my country's agricultural development for a long time to come. In accordance with the requirements of coordinating urban and rural economic development, new national fiscal funds for education, health, culture and other undertakings and increased investment in fixed assets should be mainly used in rural areas, and gradually increase the proportion of government land transfer revenue used in rural areas. Drawing on the experience of the United States, capital investment should be based on the different nature of the project, using a combination of direct government subsidies and credit investment, and at the same time increasing investment integration. Great efforts will be made to strengthen farmland water conservancy construction such as the removal and reinforcement of dangerous reservoirs and supporting large and medium-sized canal systems, and strengthen the management of small and medium-sized rivers. Accelerate the improvement of farmland quality and build high-standard farmland with guaranteed yields despite droughts and floods, and high and stable yields. Strengthen the construction of agricultural information infrastructure and establish a smooth, sensitive and fast information network system to allow farmers to make full use of social information resources to solve problems that arise in the entire process of pre-production, mid-production and post-production, and promote agricultural development.

Vigorously promote the extension of urban basic service facilities to rural areas, and strive to form a network of public transportation, water supply and power supply, radio and television, environmental protection and ecological construction that connects urban and rural areas. (3) Establish and improve agricultural production risk prevention and insurance mechanisms. The U.S. government attaches great importance to agricultural insurance, especially planting and breeding industry insurance, and implements low fees and high subsidies for agricultural insurance. Judging from the experience of developed countries such as the United States, it is very necessary to establish and improve an agricultural insurance system and avoid agricultural risks through the implementation of the agricultural insurance system. The establishment and improvement of agricultural risk prevention mechanisms can help reduce farmers' losses in sudden natural disasters. To this end, it is recommended that the country should first develop a disaster relief system. For natural disasters caused by non-human factors, the government should provide farmers with a certain proportion (such as 60%) of average harvest subsidies in previous years in order to maintain farmers' normal lives and reinvest in production in the coming year. Secondly, a variety of disaster insurance systems can be implemented. The government can implement various forms of subsidies to make agricultural insurance a policy insurance that is different from general commercial insurance and minimize farmers' investment risks. (4) Promote ecological civilization and develop sustainable agriculture. The United States Department of Agriculture implements ecological protection subsidy programs in areas such as land fallow, soil and water conservation, wetland protection, grassland conservation, wildlife habitat protection, and environmental quality incentives to provide cash subsidies and technology In the form of assistance, these funds are distributed to farmers or used in various ecological protection subsidy projects that farmers voluntarily participate in, directly benefiting farmers. For a long time, we have gone through many detours in economic construction and gained economic benefits at the expense of the environment. We have learned painful lessons, which have had a serious impact on the sustainable development of agriculture in particular. The report of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed "building ecological civilization" and basically formed an industrial structure, growth mode, and consumption mode that saves resources and protects the ecological environment. It is recommended to learn from the experience of the United States, continue to focus on the construction of key ecological projects, actively promote rural energy construction, and vigorously promote the circular economy model. At the same time, we should study and formulate agricultural ecological protection subsidy policies that are in line with my country's national conditions, give full play to the role of agricultural cooperation organizations, and mobilize The enthusiasm of the majority of farmers applies modern science and technology to protect, cultivate and make full use of natural resources, prevent and reduce environmental pollution, form a virtuous cycle of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and sideline fishery, and maintain the stable development of large-scale agriculture. (5) Accelerate the progress of agricultural science and technology and improve the scientific and technological content of agriculture. The U.S. government has always regarded agricultural education, research and technology promotion as its important responsibilities, forming a very distinctive "trinity" system. That is: (1) the state agricultural college (the so-called "land-grant college" established in the 19th century) simultaneously undertakes the three tasks of education, research and promotion, (2) the annual research and promotion plan is applied from the grassroots upward, and the extension station provides Services should try to meet the needs of agricultural production; (3) Extension funds are jointly borne by the federal, state and county governments. Agricultural research funding in the United States mainly comes from two major systems: public and private (company), and the two complement each other. The former focuses on basic research and applied research, while the latter focuses on new product development and applied research. At present, my country's agricultural science and technology progress contribution rate is only 49%, which is much lower than the average level of 70-80% in developed countries. Only 3.43% of the rural labor force has a technical secondary school education or above. In order to adapt to the requirements of agricultural development in the 21st century and accelerate the process of agricultural modernization, we must increase investment in science and technology, vigorously promote the pace of agricultural technological innovation, reform the current system and mechanism that is disconnected from agricultural scientific research and extension in our country, actively innovate, and closely integrate agriculture, education, and science. Increase investment in basic agricultural scientific research, improve the construction of a number of basic agricultural scientific research facilities in a focused manner, and ensure that agriculture has sufficient technical reserves. Strengthen the promotion and application of agricultural science and technology, gradually form a new agricultural technology promotion system that combines state support and market guidance, and combines paid and free services, actively promote agricultural mechanization and agricultural informatization, improve the level of agricultural machinery and equipment, and improve the collection and release of agricultural information. system. Strengthen farmer education and training to improve the quality of modern farmers. To adapt to the needs of market competition, accelerate the cultivation of modern agricultural operators with strong market awareness, high production skills, and certain management capabilities. We will further improve the environment for farmers to go out to work, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers, accelerate the development of rural vocational and technical education and rural adult education, organize and mobilize social forces to widely participate in farmers' relocation employment training, and enhance the employability of the rural labor force. (6) Improve the organizational level of agriculture and establish a socialized agricultural service system. As the most extensive organization in agriculture, the American Agricultural Cooperative Federation not only provides farmers with various information services, but also represents farmers and has become one of the important forces in the formulation of government agricultural policies. , played a very important role in promoting the development of the US agricultural economy and reducing the government's social management costs. It is necessary to explore farmers' cooperative organizational forms that suit the characteristics of my country's agricultural and rural development and improve the competitiveness and economic benefits of thousands of small producers in the ever-changing market. Special attention should also be paid to the development of community-based cooperative economic organizations that provide comprehensive services to farmers. Only in this way can the development of modern agriculture be promoted. At the same time, we must vigorously support the construction of agricultural product circulation markets and establish a market system with agricultural product futures markets, professional markets, and cold chain logistics and distribution as the main contents. (7) Accelerate the process of agricultural legislation and ensure agricultural development. In the past century, the U.S. Congress has passed a large number of laws related to agriculture, forming a relatively complete legal system to guide agricultural and rural development.

In recent years, the Chinese government has made major adjustments to agricultural policies in macro-control and introduced a series of policy measures to strengthen and support agriculture. In the context of marketization and internationalization, the national agricultural supporting policies are adapted to the current agricultural and rural development. The outline of the system is initially formed. We believe that bringing domestic agricultural support into the legal track is a prerequisite for maintaining the continuity and effectiveness of domestic agricultural support policies. Clearly stipulating policy objectives, budget amounts, operating procedures, division of labor, legal responsibilities, etc. in the form of law, making them as open as possible and accepting social supervision will help improve the efficiency of government investment in supporting agriculture and promote the development of modern agriculture. At the same time, we should proceed from the actual situation of small-scale agricultural operations in our country, try to adopt simple and easy methods, make full use of various organizational resources, reduce management costs, and establish an operable agricultural support system.

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