The best Farm Bill money can buy

Millions spent on lobbying by corporate farming interests has not gone unrewarded in the "compromise" Farm Bill being put together by the Democrats in Congress.

First, the limit is kept high on the income permitted a "farmer" to keep receiving federal subsidy checks. Many pushed for $200,000 per year, the White House has pushed $500,000 per year, but the Democrats selected $750,000 per year. This allows the tax-loss corporate farm operators to keep the federal gravy pipeline full. If the purpose of farm subsidies is to benefit small family farmers, even the $200,000 limit is too high. With a limited pot to divy up, keeping the limit high means low payouts to the family farmers who really need it, by spreading the money around to the big corporate farmers too.

Second, despite the record high corn prices that are wrecking food prices worldwide, caused by heavily-subsidized ethanol producers outbidding farmers and ranchers for corn, ethanol subsidies are kept in place. Archer Midland Daniels, the largest corn refiner, has spent millions to keep ethanol subsidies in place. Their money was not wasted.

Third, the proposed bill actually expands "conservation" of so-called fragile farm lands. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has been a huge raid on the federal treasury for years, and with land being pulled out in order to raise suddenly lucrative grain crops, it was thought spending would finally drop on CRP.

Two main things happen with CRP: Farmers and ranchers put their least productive land--that with alkalai problems, too hilly or swampy to irrigate, too prone to weeds and pests--in the CRP. The other is that when its time to retire, you put that chilly marginal farm in the northern climes in CRP and move to Arizona or Florida. You do that because you make more on CRP from the land than it will rent for to the neighbors.

Either is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer's money. You really can't blame the landowners--they're only taking advantage of what's legally available to them. The question is: should it be?

Lastly, this so-called Farm Bill, as you'd expect from a city-dominated, Democratic Congress, vastly increases the spending on federal feeding programs like food stamps. The truth is, the Farm Bill is largely a welfare bill. Welfare to corporate farmers and welfare to anyone who can qualify for food stamps. The government pays to run ads in the mass media now, to get more people to sign up for food stamps, since some of the existing amount of money goes unused. To increase the amount of money available is insane.

Certainly you can't blame the grocery industry for spending heavily on lobbying for food stamp money, or the farm organizations for lobbying heavily on CRP funding.

But truly what we have is the best Farm Bill that money can buy.