News
Bill puts new caps on all farm payments
Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa will be introducing farm payment limit caps later this week that he says are similar to the ones he’s proposed in the past. He calls his bill the “Rural America Preservation Act.” He says it will close the loophole that’s allowed a small percentage of large farm operations to exploit the payments.
Under current law the payment limits on direct payments are 40-thousand dollars and on counter cyclical payments, 65-thousand dollars and he says there’s no effective total limitation on what one farmer can get from the farm program. “So my bill would lower the caps on direct payments to $20-Thousand and on counter cyclical payments to $30-Thousand and establish a cap of $75-Thousand on the amount a farmer can receive from loan deficiency and marketing loan gains,” says Grassley.
The bill would cap overall payments at $125-thousand for individuals and $250-thousand to married couples.
Grassley says his bill also contains language to define who an eligible farmer is. He says similar language exists in the current Farm Bill that he believes the USDA has not enforced.
“And I really wonder whether or not there’s an interest in the Department of Agriculture really doing this and so you keep hammering away to hopefully make some progress.”
Grassley says with the budget-cutting climate in Washington right now, farm payment limit legislation has a good chance of passing.
AUDIO: Senator Charles “Chuck” Grassley conference call (16:00 mp3)
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I see these farmers driving trucks that cost more than I make in a year and people want me to justify handing them a subsidy check. Well I do not and will not. What’s wrong with Washington? I mean really what is wrong that people can not see the obvious and act like everything is O K when it IS NOT!
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Mick, you apparently don’t know one thing about modern agriculture, and neither does the Senator from Iowa.
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Its unfortunate that more about subsidies is not included in the public school education programs. The reason that Americans enjoy an abundant and yes affordable food supply grown by US farmers is because subsidies for the 7 principal commodities exist. This provides stability and certainty so that we are not reliant upon a foreign food source. Compare the % of our net pay check we (US) spend on food to those in other parts of the world, then add the price of support payments to farmers and you will see why it is the way it is. I can only hope as a nation that we always protect our food supply and support all those who work in the Agricultural industry.
250,000 cap and this is a good thing? Are you people insane?