Rice farmers across the country are continuing their attacks on the current farm bill under consideration in the Senate. Among their top complaints are the elimination of direct payment subsidies and the preferential treatment, in their eyes, being given to Midwestern commodity growers.
The current farm bill under debate in the Senate is the result of the 2011 debt ceiling debates. In order to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, and preventing the federal government from defaulting on its loans, Congress and President Barack Obama agreed to trim about $2 trillion from the budget over the next decade. Included in these cuts were about $25 billion in agricultural spending reductions.
While the final deficit reduction deal failed in Congress, the Senate Agriculture Committee used the negotiations as a starting point, eventually agreeing on about $24 billion in spending cuts.
The problem with these cuts, some rice farmers say, is that they benefit Midwestern growers at the expense of the South. The elimination of direct payment subsidies is particularly burdensome. For years, Southern farmers have relied on these programs to aid them in rough periods. While the Senate does strengthen crop insurance programs as a replacement for direct payments, many rice farmers say that these programs are specifically attuned to corn and soybean farmers.
The shallow losses based revenue protection programs currently being considered are based on formulas that attempt to average a farmer’s income over a five-year period by looking at commodity prices and yields. These formulas, rice farmers say, will better benefit corn and soybean growers, who have seen average prices skyrocket in recent years, than rice farmers. Without a strong safety net, many rice farmers are worried about their ability to stay in business.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer