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Grassley more confident of payment limits in 2012
Senator Charles Grassley expects no immediate action on the federal farm payment limit proposal he introduced with Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold. The Iowa Republican says the measure was put forward far enough in advance of the 2012 farm bill to let people know he’s not giving up on limiting farm payments to $250,000 per entity. Grassley has tried unsuccessfully in the past to insert such a limitation in farm legislation.
“We have nothing against big farmers,” said Senator Grassley, in a conference call to reporters Tuesday morning. “Big farmers can continue to get big if they want to, but we feel that without having a reasonable payment limitation that we’re subsidizing big farmers to get bigger.”
Grassley has sponsored similar legislation in the last two farm bills; however payment limit language has not successfully made it to the final bill in either case.
Grassley says that what’s changed since his last attempt to limit payments is the greater public scrutiny of federal spending.
“The farm program is one of those many issues where we can save money,” said Grassley, “and people are very concerned about the deficit so this very great concern at the grassroots about the deficit, I think, is going to help us more than anything else.”
Grassley characterizes payment limits as steering farm legislative priorities back to providing a safety net to help small and medium-sized farmers through times of trouble beyond their control.
He says, on the other hand, that subsidizing growth of already large farms has additional ramifications about the future of agriculture.
“Because when that happens, it drives up the price of land and the price of cash rent, and we aren’t able to pass on to the next generation the opportunity to farm,” said Grassley, “and we’ve got to get young people into farming.”
His efforts, he said, also have something to do with preserving public favor for government farm policy.
“Our legislation would protect the tax payers [and] keep the farm program reasonable,” said Grassley, “so it’d still continue to have urban support.”
AUDIO: Grassley on payment limits (3 min. MP3)
I think Grassley is on the right track and pressure should be put on Congress to consider their proposal.