Daschle said that according to USDA, net farm income could drop 20% this year alone, unless a new farm bill or more emergency payments are approved quickly. Daschle noted that farm income is already down more than 25% since 1996.

"When the people who feed the nation can't put food on their own tables, something is wrong, and we must deal with it,"

In December, Daschle and others pushed for passage of a new farm bill. While there were a majority of votes in favor of the bill, Senate Republicans used a parliamentary tactic to delay passage of the bill.

"Senate Republican stalling tactics on this legislation have jeopardized billions of dollars in assistance to farmers and ranchers," Daschle said. "USDA's announcement about farm income underscores the need to get this bill passed now. When we return to Congress later this month i will continue to urge my Republican colleagues to set partisan politics aside and provide Rural America the help it needs."

Daschle said the Senate Farm Bill he backs supports producers of all commodities to a greater extent than the current farm bill, and it reforms the system by providing assistance to the producers who really need it instead of making payments regardless of what farmers do on their land. Daschle said the bill also includes an important income safety net to provide more support in tough years and less support in good years as well as new-and-improved conservation programs.

Daschle noted that for the last two decades, the rural economy has lagged behind the overall economy. The past response to these problems has been a series of ad hoc disaster bills that attempt to bandage what has proven to be a fatally flawed farm policy.