News
Dec 12 2007
Senate protects farm subsidies
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to protect the controversial system of farm subsidies that funnels billions of dollars to large producers of wheat, corn and cotton.
By a vote of 58-37, senators rejected a proposal that would have scrapped three different subsidy programs and replaced them with an expanded crop insurance program that would have been available to all farmers.
Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, voted against the proposal, which likely would have cost Oklahoma farmers tens of millions of dollars. Crop subsidy payments in Oklahoma totaled $539 million from 2003-2005.
"While overhauling our direct payment and crop insurance system is long overdue, this amendment redirected all savings to other federal programs, which are equally flawed and in need of reform,” Coburn said in a statement.
Why was the proposal pushed?
The proposal to shift away from traditional crop payments was offered as an amendment to the farm bill by an expert in farm policy — Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Lugar was one of the architects of the 1996 Freedom to Farm bill that was aimed at phasing out subsidies.
That bill was widely acknowledged as a failure when Congress spent billions of dollars in the late 1990s to help farmers when crop prices plummeted.
Lugar said Tuesday the current subsidy system — which guarantees payments whether farmers plant or not and also provides money when crop prices drop below congressionally set target prices — "does not work and wastes taxpayer dollars.”
Opponents of Lugar's proposal said it would devastate farmers whose increasing productivity has kept food prices down and helped supply the world with grain.
"This is a bankruptcy proposal for rural America if prices turn down,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-S.D. He said the proposal would benefit big farmers the most if there were losses that crop insurance covered.
The Senate has voted on only one of the expected 40 amendments in the $286 billion farm bill, which also covers conservation and nutrition programs.
What's ahead for farm bill?
Senators are expected to vote this week on an amendment that would prohibit any farmer from receiving more than $250,000 a year in federal subsidies. Though some current payments are capped, the limits can be exceeded through use of loans that allow farmers to get working cash before selling their crops.
By a vote of 58-37, senators rejected a proposal that would have scrapped three different subsidy programs and replaced them with an expanded crop insurance program that would have been available to all farmers.
Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, voted against the proposal, which likely would have cost Oklahoma farmers tens of millions of dollars. Crop subsidy payments in Oklahoma totaled $539 million from 2003-2005.
"While overhauling our direct payment and crop insurance system is long overdue, this amendment redirected all savings to other federal programs, which are equally flawed and in need of reform,” Coburn said in a statement.
Why was the proposal pushed?
The proposal to shift away from traditional crop payments was offered as an amendment to the farm bill by an expert in farm policy — Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Lugar was one of the architects of the 1996 Freedom to Farm bill that was aimed at phasing out subsidies.
That bill was widely acknowledged as a failure when Congress spent billions of dollars in the late 1990s to help farmers when crop prices plummeted.
Lugar said Tuesday the current subsidy system — which guarantees payments whether farmers plant or not and also provides money when crop prices drop below congressionally set target prices — "does not work and wastes taxpayer dollars.”
Opponents of Lugar's proposal said it would devastate farmers whose increasing productivity has kept food prices down and helped supply the world with grain.
"This is a bankruptcy proposal for rural America if prices turn down,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-S.D. He said the proposal would benefit big farmers the most if there were losses that crop insurance covered.
The Senate has voted on only one of the expected 40 amendments in the $286 billion farm bill, which also covers conservation and nutrition programs.
What's ahead for farm bill?
Senators are expected to vote this week on an amendment that would prohibit any farmer from receiving more than $250,000 a year in federal subsidies. Though some current payments are capped, the limits can be exceeded through use of loans that allow farmers to get working cash before selling their crops.
