Copyright 2002 Star Tribune  
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
May 5, 2002, Sunday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 28A

LENGTH: 480 words

HEADLINE: Farm bill;
Bloated and backward-looking

BODY:
Congress is on the verge of enacting a new six-year farm bill that has been disparaged by groups ranging from corn growers to the Center for Rural Affairs to the European Union. The critics have a point: While it contains several redeeming features, this bloated bill will perpetuate many of the problems in American agriculture.

     The bill's fundamental flaw lies in its return to a system of pre-1996 crop subsidies that reward overproduction and keep agriculture dependent on taxpayer support. Instead of targeting federal dollars at low- and middle-income farmers, it allows money to flow without limit to megafarms. The bill appears to cap subsidies at $360,000 per operation, but loopholes make that figure meaningless.

     The result is likely to be a continuation of a cycle of falling commodity prices and rising government support payments that enrich a few while leaving the majority of American farmers squeaking by. Higher land prices are another likely consequence. This bill will encourage small farmers to sell out to larger ones, depleting rural communities.

     Livestock industry consolidation will get a boost from this bill. It transforms a conservation cost-share program into a subsidy for construction of livestock feedlot operations. Restrictions on meatpacker ownership of livestock, championed by Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, were dropped in the final version, to the gain of the corporate giants that already dominate the pork and poultry industries.

     All this bad policy is expected to cost taxpayers $180 billion over 10 years _ a whopping 70 percent spending increase. It would be enough to set the Washington fiscal watchdogs howling, were not so many of them from states where farmers stand to benefit.

     That said, the farm bill has features worth cheering. The best is the Conservation Security Program, which would pay farmers to employ conservation practices on working lands. It's an idea that could be the basis for a new farm policy in the future _ one that gives taxpayers air and water protection, soil conservation and more chemical-free food in exchange for their farm-support dollars.

     Wellstone's rural telework initiative is included at $30 million a year for five years. That money would fund grants to bring more computer-based jobs to rural America.   Another Wellstone provision _ labeling meat with its country of origin _ survived and should be good for Minnesota meat producers. Minnesota dairy farmers will fare better under the bill's dairy provisions, which are a marked improvement.

     It's a shame that these policy gems are joined with provisions that are bound to let the rich get richer at taxpayer expense, while the poor keep struggling. President Bush says he will sign the bill. There goes his claim to be a champion of smart, limited government.

      

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