GREAT FALLS, Mont. – With proposed cuts of $13.4 billion (U.S.) to the United States agriculture budget over the next seven years, American farmers are warned to expect tough times ahead.
A Republican dominated Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate, approved a bill Oct. 26 to balance the total American budget by 2002.
Montana senator Max Baucus said at the Montana Farmers’ Union that president Bill Clinton is expected to veto the entire budget proposal because of the effect it could have in rural areas. The senator sits on the Senate agriculture committee.
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“It is an onslaught on rural America,” he said. Cuts would slice through farm programs as well as health care.
Lee Swenson, who leads the 300,000 members of the U.S. National Farmers’ Union, said the best American farmers can hope for is a presidential veto.
“We have never in the history that I’m aware of, adopted a farm bill that is part of budget reconciliation,” said the South Dakota farmer.
What many people don’t realize is that the farm bill includes the forest service, food stamp, nutrition and school lunch programs. A large part of the American public believes billions of dollars are paid out annually in farm subsidies to farmers who don’t deserve them.
In an interview at the Montana Farmers’ Union meeting, Swenson said cuts are needed but not at the expense of primary producers.
The major cuts will strike hardest at the grain growing states in the northwest and midwest, he said.
“The whole infrastructure of the rural states … the base of the economy of those states is production agriculture,” he said.
If the cuts survive, average farmers will find they have less money for operating expenses, higher interest rates and stiffer requirements for more equity, he said.
“I think you’ll see a smaller base of loan plans structure in rural America,” said Swenson.
Fewer new farmers
He fears young people will shy away from farming. Unable to borrow, modern farmers would have to rent land and equipment from a corporation and market raw products at a predetermined price.
He also predicted tremors in rural communities where farm-related businesses like veterinarians, farm service suppliers and local retailers could go bankrupt if farmers can’t afford to stay in business, leading to further depopulation of rural America.
