Stinkynigs
03-02-2009, 04:38 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wally Darneille has two words for President Barack Obama's proposal to end the so-called direct payment subsidy to large U.S. farmers: "That's insanity."
As part of his 2010 budget, Obama proposed phasing-out direct payments to farmers with sales of more than $500,000 a year, to save $9.8 billion over 10 years.
Direct payments, which total $5.2 billion a year, are paid regardless of crop prices.
"Large farmers are well-positioned to replace those payments with alternate sources of income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production and providing clean air, clean water and wildlife habitat," the White House budget documents said.
A farmer could reach $500,000 in sales with 885 acres of corn or 2,250 acres of lower-yielding wheat.
Roughly 126,000 U.S. farms have sales over $500,000 a year, according to the Agriculture Department.
"We did some figuring, and it would not take much to get to that cap, said Tim Bartram, who farms 400 acres of wheat in Guthrie, Oklahoma. "They are showing a real lack of understanding of agriculture."
Gregory Guenther, a farmer from Belleville, Illinois, said the "agribusinesses" are actually family operations.
"Brothers or a father and son or whatever have combined their resources, their acreage, into one big operation in order to capture volume discounts on seed, fertilizer, chemicals, or things like that which make them more efficient," he said.
"Each of those individuals that are involved in this so-called corporate farm, they only have the income off of a few hundred of those acres," said Guenther.
Lawmakers overrode two presidential vetoes last year to enact a five-year farm law that bans crop subsidies to people with more than $500,000 in income from off the farm and tightened subsidy rules somewhat.
They rejected a $250,000 payment cap.
"We just passed a fiscally responsible Farm Bill that made cuts to farm programs, so now is not the time to reopen it," said House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson.
"While it aims for the right goal, the approach outlined in the president's budget is not the best way to ensure farm payments go to those who need it most," said Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican who favors a $250,000 cap on payments.
"I'm a farmer and I know that gross income or sales revenue does not reflect your ability to pay."
Jay Hardwick, chairman of the National Cotton Council, said "the direct payments are critical to a producer's ability to secure financing."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090301/us_nm/us_obama_farm
As part of his 2010 budget, Obama proposed phasing-out direct payments to farmers with sales of more than $500,000 a year, to save $9.8 billion over 10 years.
Direct payments, which total $5.2 billion a year, are paid regardless of crop prices.
"Large farmers are well-positioned to replace those payments with alternate sources of income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production and providing clean air, clean water and wildlife habitat," the White House budget documents said.
A farmer could reach $500,000 in sales with 885 acres of corn or 2,250 acres of lower-yielding wheat.
Roughly 126,000 U.S. farms have sales over $500,000 a year, according to the Agriculture Department.
"We did some figuring, and it would not take much to get to that cap, said Tim Bartram, who farms 400 acres of wheat in Guthrie, Oklahoma. "They are showing a real lack of understanding of agriculture."
Gregory Guenther, a farmer from Belleville, Illinois, said the "agribusinesses" are actually family operations.
"Brothers or a father and son or whatever have combined their resources, their acreage, into one big operation in order to capture volume discounts on seed, fertilizer, chemicals, or things like that which make them more efficient," he said.
"Each of those individuals that are involved in this so-called corporate farm, they only have the income off of a few hundred of those acres," said Guenther.
Lawmakers overrode two presidential vetoes last year to enact a five-year farm law that bans crop subsidies to people with more than $500,000 in income from off the farm and tightened subsidy rules somewhat.
They rejected a $250,000 payment cap.
"We just passed a fiscally responsible Farm Bill that made cuts to farm programs, so now is not the time to reopen it," said House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson.
"While it aims for the right goal, the approach outlined in the president's budget is not the best way to ensure farm payments go to those who need it most," said Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican who favors a $250,000 cap on payments.
"I'm a farmer and I know that gross income or sales revenue does not reflect your ability to pay."
Jay Hardwick, chairman of the National Cotton Council, said "the direct payments are critical to a producer's ability to secure financing."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090301/us_nm/us_obama_farm