Farm Aide

I agree with the president on something. The loopholes that allow big corporate farms to receive millions of dollars in subsidies needs to be corrected. But, it also needs to be done in a way to ensure the small farmers (the intended recipients) are not hurt by the cuts in subsidy payments. Small family farms are economically less viable and it is anti-capitalistic to subsidize them, but the
American family farmer has made up the back bone of this country for 2 centuries and should not be left out in the cold.

Bush Faces Fight on Farm Payment Limits

WASHINGTON - The idea behind President Bush's proposal to limit crop subsidies is to stop big corporate farming operations from gobbling up most of the government payments, but smaller farmers say they'd be hurt too.

"If you want to do away with family farms, do away with subsidies," said Daryl Burney, a cotton farmer with a 1,000-acre operation in Coffeeville, Miss. "We're dependent on subsidies to survive. The profit margin on the farm is so narrow right now, you can't afford any mistakes."

Bush wants to lower the maximum amount that farmers may collect, which Burney said would cut into his income. Burney's subsidy checks don't always reach the current limit, but, he said, they come close enough that "we would blow the cap slap off" under the president's new budget.

As part of his budget for the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, Bush on Monday proposed dropping payment ceilings from $360,000 to $250,000 and closing loopholes that have allowed some to claim millions of dollars in payments. He also called for an across-the-board cut of 5 percent for all farm payments...

Southerners like Burney would feel new limits more keenly because their crops of rice and cotton cost more to grow and get higher subsidies. They're not alone. Growers of other commodities — wheat, corn, soybeans — say they can't withstand cuts of any kind now that prices for many of their crops are falling.

The president already has a fight on his hands. Southern growers have friends in high places, among them Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga...