More On The Farm Bill That Smells Like A Feedlot

Some good commentary on the "reform" Pelosi talks about in the new Farm Bill.

Investor's Business Daily
LA Times

This is certainly a sad state of affairs. By the way, I got a reply from Pat Robert on my letter this morning. Existing Senators are part of the problem...

Dear Mr. XXXXX:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Farm Bill. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

In December the Senate passed H.R. 2419, the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, commonly known as the Farm Bill on a 79-14 vote. The Farm Bill is a multi-year bill that legislates policies and authorizes programs for commodity price support, food and nutrition aid, conservation initiatives, agriculture trade and marketing programs, rural development assistance and renewable energy programing.

I supported the Senate Farm Bill. While it is not the best possible bill, it was the best bill possible at the time. I am pleased that the bill preserves the two commodity title programs that help Kansas producers the most, crop insurance and direct payments. In times when Mother Nature stirs up trouble by way of a drought, freeze, flood, tornado or other natural disaster, crop insurance and direct payments are the only programs that provide stability. The Farm Bill as drafted retains the direct payment rate from the 2002 Farm Bill and the framework of the current crop insurance program.

The Senate version of the Farm Bill includes significant funding increases to multiple programs. Conservation programs enjoy a $4 billion increase while nutrition programs see an increase of over $5.5 billion above current spending. With this increase, nutrition programs make up over two-thirds of the entire Farm Bill budget. Specialty crop programs in the commodity, research and nutrition titles receive nearly $2 billion in the Senate bill.

I do have concerns over several measures included in the bill but am hopeful these concerns will be addressed in the final bill. Since the Senate passed H.R. 2419 with amendments, the Farm Bill now goes to a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions. Rest assured, as a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and a conferee for the Farm Bill and a former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, I will continue to work for strong, responsible farm policy.

Again thank you for taking the time to contact me. If you would like more information on issues before the Senate, please visit my website at http://roberts.senate.gov. You may also sign up on my home page for a monthly electronic newsletter that will provide additional updates on my work for Kansas.

With every best wish,

The chance of Senator Roberts engaging in "responsible farm policy" are slim to none. The only responsible farm policy is no farm policy. How does government payment result in stability in the wake of a crop failure? We all pay higher prices when crops fail. Why should the government and tax payers assume the farmers' risk? There is private insurance that can protect the farmer. Yes it is expensive, but there is a lot of risk in farming. Farming is no different that any other industry insuring their receivables. Taxpayers are no longer helping Depression-era farmers that are trying to survive. Instead, we are subsidizing multi-millionaires with incomes that are nearly twice the average American family.

House Bill H.R. 2419 Fail Americans

Here is a brief outline of the short comings from the new 2008 Farm Bill that just passed the House and is now on its way to the Senate:

1. It provides little improvement to means testing or payment limits.
Married couples with an adjusted gross income of $1.5 million will still receive
subsidies. The payment limit level of $360,000 was not reduced.
2. It continues to dole out $5.2 billion annually in direct payments to individuals
(many of whom are no longer farming) without any regard to prices or income. These direct payments, 60 percent of which go to the wealthiest 10 percent of recipients, were created in 1996 and were supposed to phase out by 2002.
3. It creates a new “permanent disaster fund” worth $3.8 billion - a disaster for taxpayers, most farmers, and the environment. This will encourage planting on disaster-prone land, plus most payments will go to the same producers already receiving the bulk of the direct payments.
4. It increases the support price for sugar, reserves 85 percent of the U.S. market
for domestic producers and creates a new sugar ethanol program. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this new program will cost taxpayers $1.3 billion over ten years, although the real cost is likely to exceed $4 billion. The consumer costs of the sugar program will exceed $2 billion annually.
5. It adds earmarks such as $5 million for grants to broadcasting systems inserted by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), $3 million for Delta Health Alliance Grants inserted by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), and $1 million for the National Sheep and Goat Industry Improvement Center inserted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

This legislation is a joke and it hurts not only Americans, but people all over the world. I am actually pleasantly surprised that Rep. Tiahart voted AGAINST this bill. However, I feel less confident about my two Senators. So here is my letter to the two Kansas Senators:

Dear Senator:

I am writing today to ask that you take some political risk and reject the new Farm Bill. This Bill has less to do with Agriculture and more to do with special interest and wasteful big government.

Farm income will be at an all-time high in 2008. There is absolutely no reason for over $20B of taxpayer money to fund farming families that have incomes in excess of $1.5M/year. It is tough to explain how someone qualifies for government aid when their income is 150 times the poverty level in the US.

This Bill also drives the cost of food higher for all people as there are incentives to produce less food. There are provisions which drive the price of some commodities, like sugar, to levels that are 2-3 times the world price. While this is good for a few families in Florida that actually grow and process sugar, it is bad for consumers who have to pay the price in lost jobs (think the candy industry) and higher prices for basic food staples.

The Farm Bill has become a toxic mess of legislation. This is politics at its worst and the effects on the economy go well beyond the $20B price tag every year. Please stop this senseless piece of legislation and support President Bush.

Respectfully yours,


Feel free to copy it and send it on to your Senators.

Amber Waves of Green.

Great Op-Ed.

Amber Waves of Green