WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — The United States Congress needs a clear-eyed picture of who feeds America before it writes the new farm law due by the end of 2002, says the chair of the U.S. Senate’s agriculture committee.
Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, said he wants to start a debate on the structure of agriculture, the bland term for the huge range in farms from “hobby” farms of a few acres to big-scale operations measured in square kilometres.
The survey could bring a new view of how the U.S. farm program should operate, but Lugar said “it’s not really clear” what the result would be. He said he holds no preconceptions of who should get farm support or how it would be awarded.
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At present, there are virtually no limits on how much money farmers can collect in federal support. The farm program, born in the Depression, guarantees a minimum price for every bushel of grain or pound of cotton or rice that is grown.
Critics say subsidies now flow to big farmers who do not need them, while small producers get too little money to make a difference.
There were 2.17 million farms in the U.S. at last count.
Eight percent of them, or 157,000 growers with sales exceeding $250,000 (US) a year, control nearly a third of cropland and account for 70 percent of farm output.
There also were 157,000 mid-size farms with sales of $100,000-$250,000 a year. The bulk of farms were small operations that showed little net income from crop and livestock sales.
“I think the structure has changed and is still changing dynamically,” Lugar said.”We’re going to be asking about it.”
With Congress gathering information for a farm law, “it is as good a time as any … to back up and determine what farming in America is really like” and who is part of it.
Lugar has been a steely defender of the Freedom to Farm law that deregulated farming in 1996 and took a leading role in blocking recent proposals by Democrats for higher crop supports. He favors larger free-market influence in farming.
“It appears there is some virtue in a safety net” for farmers, he said, but farm supports may be high enough now for efficient producers to profit despite the fourth year of low grain prices.
Meanwhile, several members of the informal “ag posse” of Republican senators from farm states met White House budget director Mitch Daniels March 7 to discuss the 2002 budget and farm issues.
“The economic state of American agriculture is not improving over last year … but could worsen as it relates to overall input costs,” said Idaho Republican Larry Craig.
The George W. Bush administration has indicated sympathy for farmers, but has not put forward an aid package. It has called for modest cuts in U.S. Department of Agriculture spending.
Congress has enacted farm bailouts of more than $24 billion since late 1998, including $9.7 billion last year. Farm groups want a $9 billion rescue package this year, as well as $12 billion a year in higher farm spending in future years.
