Farm groups protest administration's proposed subsidy cuts
Farm groups protest administration's proposed subsidy cuts
WASHINGTON " Farm groups wasted no time protesting the Bush administration?s proposal to cut farm and commodity subsidies in the 2006 budget.
A coalition of 100 farm groups fired off a letter to newly confirmed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, warning that reductions would "seriously undermine many nutrition, conservation, crop insurance and farm programs that are important to all Americans."
The Feb. 2 letter said, "With prices for many major commodities falling sharply from last year, reductions to farm programs would come at precisely the time that these supports are most needed in rural America."
President Bush?s proposal would set an overall limit of $250,000 on subsidies to crops like cotton, rice, corn and wheat, and bar farmers from collecting multiple subsidies. This was part of the administration?s overall plan to cut the budget by $587 million this fiscal year.
Farm subsidy advocates also criticized President Bush for fiddling with a farm bill that is not up for reauthorization until 2006.
President Bush?s ambitious budget plan asks a lot of people to give, but it should not hurt agriculture in an inequitable way, said Robert Guenther of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, here.
Mr. Guenther said that United plans to focus attention on programs that increase produce consumption and block proposed cuts to USDA?s Market Access Program, a valuable program that helps to create, expand and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products.
The budget proposes the program be funded at $125 million, a reduction over current levels and a steep drop from the $200 million that the farm bill calls for this year. "Opening up markets is very important to our members," Mr. Guenther said. "We will fight to get it back up."
U.S. farm programs were written by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2002, with the intention that farmers and ranchers would have an adequate safety net through 2007, said National Farmers Union President Dave Frederickson.
?I think it is wrong for President Bush to try to balance the budget on the backs of rural Americans," said NFU President Dave Frederickson. "Agricultural programs are not the cause of the record federal deficit and, therefore, should not be the solution."
But Mr. Johanns defended the Bush administration?s proposal to cut subsidies. He told reporters at a Feb. 7 press conference that "farmers and ranchers will look at this, they will understand that we have to deal with the deficit if they are going to have a long-term future in agriculture " not only for their generation but for the next generation and the next generation."
It is unclear whether there is any political will in Congress to cut the popular subsidies as past attempts have withered on the vine.
A coalition of 100 farm groups fired off a letter to newly confirmed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, warning that reductions would "seriously undermine many nutrition, conservation, crop insurance and farm programs that are important to all Americans."
The Feb. 2 letter said, "With prices for many major commodities falling sharply from last year, reductions to farm programs would come at precisely the time that these supports are most needed in rural America."
President Bush?s proposal would set an overall limit of $250,000 on subsidies to crops like cotton, rice, corn and wheat, and bar farmers from collecting multiple subsidies. This was part of the administration?s overall plan to cut the budget by $587 million this fiscal year.
Farm subsidy advocates also criticized President Bush for fiddling with a farm bill that is not up for reauthorization until 2006.
President Bush?s ambitious budget plan asks a lot of people to give, but it should not hurt agriculture in an inequitable way, said Robert Guenther of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, here.
Mr. Guenther said that United plans to focus attention on programs that increase produce consumption and block proposed cuts to USDA?s Market Access Program, a valuable program that helps to create, expand and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products.
The budget proposes the program be funded at $125 million, a reduction over current levels and a steep drop from the $200 million that the farm bill calls for this year. "Opening up markets is very important to our members," Mr. Guenther said. "We will fight to get it back up."
U.S. farm programs were written by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2002, with the intention that farmers and ranchers would have an adequate safety net through 2007, said National Farmers Union President Dave Frederickson.
?I think it is wrong for President Bush to try to balance the budget on the backs of rural Americans," said NFU President Dave Frederickson. "Agricultural programs are not the cause of the record federal deficit and, therefore, should not be the solution."
But Mr. Johanns defended the Bush administration?s proposal to cut subsidies. He told reporters at a Feb. 7 press conference that "farmers and ranchers will look at this, they will understand that we have to deal with the deficit if they are going to have a long-term future in agriculture " not only for their generation but for the next generation and the next generation."
It is unclear whether there is any political will in Congress to cut the popular subsidies as past attempts have withered on the vine.
