Budget Re-Corn-Cilliation

When it comes to congressional spending, there's no holier sacred cow than farm subsidies. No matter how much lip service is paid to reining in these outdated, depression-era programs, time and again Congress buckles under the pressure of agribusiness and the powerful farm lobby, and continues its blank check farm policy.

Just last week, the Senate failed to place a modest $250,000 cap on commodity payments and reform regulations that direct the largest checks to the biggest, most lucrative mega-farms. Worse, subsidy supporters are trying to avoid the question of farm policy altogether by sneaking a four year extension of farm bill programs into this year’s budget—at a $60 billion cost to taxpayers, further confirming Congress’s unwillingness to take even the smallest steps towards a more efficient and equitable  farm policy for the 21^st century.

Additional examples abound. The 1996 farm bill was supposed to reduce agriculture spending and return the farm sector to the free-market. Instead, total farm spending more than doubled. In 2002, Congress reversed gears, re-wrote the farm bill, and threw in everything but the kitchen sink, resulting in the most expensive farm legislation in history. Spending on commodity subsidies alone are scheduled to top a record breaking $24 billion this year. 

Even worse, farm payments have become increasingly concentrated, flowing to fewer and fewer individual farmers. According to the USDA, 8 percent of producers receive 78 percent of subsidies. At the top of the subsidy food chain, huge corporate operations receive millions, while the average payment for the bottom 80 percent of farmers is under $1,000.

And there's more.  The current overemphasis of certain crops –92 percent of payments are for corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, and rice—also has a negative impact on the land itself. Soil erosion, water contamination, and wetlands drainage occur because many of the crops that qualify for commodity payments, such as cotton, encourage farmers to over-produce, farm on marginal lands, and use chemicals  intensive chemical use.

Across the board, American farm policy has fallen far short of its promises. Corporate farms walk away with millions, small farmers are frozen out, the environment suffers, and taxpayers take a bath.

Merely hitting reset for four years and expecting new results will only make matters worse. It is time for President Bush and Congress to build a responsible, cheaper, and more effective farm program that accomplishes its goals without breaking the federal bank. The answers are out there. What remains to be seen is whether the leadership exists to translate them into reality.