The Next Farm Bill: Is It Time for Conservation Payments?

Over the last two years, Congress and farm groups have worked to find a policy formula that would be acceptable as a foundation for the next farm bill. Most ideas that have been floated— and that are finding some favor in the House of Representatives— largely continue the general thrust of current programs: some fixed payments, guaranteed minimum prices for farmers, and perhaps a new countercyclical program that would mostly duplicate the emergency market loss assistance payments available the past four years. Critics point out that the only policy objective consistent with current programs is stabilization of national net farm income. Congress, it seems, wants to make sure that when income in the sector is low, payments compensate for the difference. This is truly a countercyclical policy. The problem is, only specific crop farmers (soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, barley, grain sorghum, tobacco, peanuts, and sugar) and dairy farmers get payments. The rest of agriculture is shut out of the process. Furthermore, rural activists and taxpayer groups note that because there are no means tests for the government subsidies, the largest farms and the wealthiest farmers get the bulk of the aid. For example, the New York Times recently reported that the top three farm aid recipients in Hartley County, Texas, received $2.3 million, $1.9 million, and $1.4 million from 1996 to 1999. Supporters of current programs counter that if our objective is to stabilize net farm income, then we need to support large farms (and sometimes wealthy farmers) because that is where most production occurs. Some supporters justify the status quo for aid distribution by reasoning that there are not enough funds to go around, and that independent farmers should resist the culture of dependency (on government aid) that farmers who produce subsidized crops have developed.