WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) Ñ The next U.S. farm subsidy law, due in 2007, should put more money into “green payments” for land and water stewardship and encourage new value-added products that boost farm income, according to a senior Democratic senator.
Iowa senator Tom Harkin, Democratic leader on the Senate agriculture committee, told a farm policy conference that support for expensive crop subsidies was waning. A new set of world trade rules, currently being negotiated, would also constrain government aid to crops, he said.
The current U.S. farm law, enacted in 2002, boosted crop and dairy funding by 67 percent. It also sharply increased the funding for stewardship programs, but Congress has repeatedly cut into the Harkin-backed program to pay farmers and ranchers for being good stewards.
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“We are going to have to think about different ways of supporting agriculture,” said Harkin, looking ahead to the new farm bill.
He listed more green payments and more work on value-added products, such as renewable fuels, bio-based lubricants and biodegradable tableware and cutlery made from farm crops.
Green payments would comply with world trade rules that control export-distorting crop subsidies, Harkin said.
Harkin also called for more spending in the next farm bill on public nutrition programs, particularly to prevent obesity.
