Here are some parts from an article in the Rapid City Journal.
Consider Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, who courted tea party support and dethroned the chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton.
Hartzler and her husband own a farm equipment business and a farm where they grow corn and soybeans. She received more than $770,000 in farm subsidies over the past 15 years, according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington advocacy group that collects and analyzes farm subsidy data.
While promising to cut what she called wasteful spending, Hartzler said protecting farmers is a national security issue because the decline of farms could mean more imported food.
"There are fewer and fewer farmers today so it makes them more of an easy target than others," she said. "American consumers have a vested interest in making sure we have a safe and reliable food supply that is home grown."
Still, she said she believes some programs may need to be cut.
"There's a benefit to keeping that food safety net there, but we need to look at all discretionary spending and ask the hard questions," she said.
Crop insurance - it costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year - is an effective way to give farmers the security they need when weather ruins a harvest, Hartzler said. She suggested the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to idle environmentally sensitive land, may have to go.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., an outspoken critic of farm payments, listed between $15,000 and $50,000 in farm income as one source of revenue on her personal financial disclosure statement last year, citing a Bachmann family farm in Independence, Wis., as an asset.
That farm, which was owned by her father-in-law, received more than $250,000 in subsidies over the past 15 years, according to the Environmental Working Group. A Bachmann spokesman said she is not involved in any operational decisions.
Farmer and gospel singer Stephen Fincher won an open seat House race in Tennessee this year while both railing against federal spending and deflecting criticism that his family had received $3.2 million in federal farm subsidies in the past 10 years.
Whether those members defend farm spending or not, the agriculture sector may be in for cuts when Congress looks at writing the next five-year farm bill, expected by 2012. There probably will be much less money to go around, and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, in line to be speaker, voted against the last farm bill, saying it was too costly.
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, said he thinks Boehner will listen to members of his party who support farm subsidies and programs. Still, he said, "there is more pressure this time around than there ever has been" to cut costs.
Farm supporters warn that Congress should learn lessons from past mistakes, however. The 1994 Republican congressional sweep led to the 1996 farm bill, known as the Freedom to Farm Act, which sought to return the farm sector to the free market. Commodity prices fell, and Congress was forced to later approve billions of dollars in emergency spending for farmers.
Since then, a powerful farm coalition in both the House and the Senate has led to passage of two robust farm bills. David DeGennaro, a legislative and policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, said he expects to see much of the same this time around, no matter which party is in control.
"There will be lots of calls and pressure to cut costs, but I don't think we're looking at a draconian cut across the board," he said.
Copyright 2010 rapidcityjournal.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Consider Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, who courted tea party support and dethroned the chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton.
Hartzler and her husband own a farm equipment business and a farm where they grow corn and soybeans. She received more than $770,000 in farm subsidies over the past 15 years, according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington advocacy group that collects and analyzes farm subsidy data.
While promising to cut what she called wasteful spending, Hartzler said protecting farmers is a national security issue because the decline of farms could mean more imported food.
"There are fewer and fewer farmers today so it makes them more of an easy target than others," she said. "American consumers have a vested interest in making sure we have a safe and reliable food supply that is home grown."
Still, she said she believes some programs may need to be cut.
"There's a benefit to keeping that food safety net there, but we need to look at all discretionary spending and ask the hard questions," she said.
Crop insurance - it costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year - is an effective way to give farmers the security they need when weather ruins a harvest, Hartzler said. She suggested the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to idle environmentally sensitive land, may have to go.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., an outspoken critic of farm payments, listed between $15,000 and $50,000 in farm income as one source of revenue on her personal financial disclosure statement last year, citing a Bachmann family farm in Independence, Wis., as an asset.
That farm, which was owned by her father-in-law, received more than $250,000 in subsidies over the past 15 years, according to the Environmental Working Group. A Bachmann spokesman said she is not involved in any operational decisions.
Farmer and gospel singer Stephen Fincher won an open seat House race in Tennessee this year while both railing against federal spending and deflecting criticism that his family had received $3.2 million in federal farm subsidies in the past 10 years.
Whether those members defend farm spending or not, the agriculture sector may be in for cuts when Congress looks at writing the next five-year farm bill, expected by 2012. There probably will be much less money to go around, and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, in line to be speaker, voted against the last farm bill, saying it was too costly.
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, said he thinks Boehner will listen to members of his party who support farm subsidies and programs. Still, he said, "there is more pressure this time around than there ever has been" to cut costs.
Farm supporters warn that Congress should learn lessons from past mistakes, however. The 1994 Republican congressional sweep led to the 1996 farm bill, known as the Freedom to Farm Act, which sought to return the farm sector to the free market. Commodity prices fell, and Congress was forced to later approve billions of dollars in emergency spending for farmers.
Since then, a powerful farm coalition in both the House and the Senate has led to passage of two robust farm bills. David DeGennaro, a legislative and policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, said he expects to see much of the same this time around, no matter which party is in control.
"There will be lots of calls and pressure to cut costs, but I don't think we're looking at a draconian cut across the board," he said.
Copyright 2010 rapidcityjournal.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
