| It would cost the federal government less money to support
farmers than it has spent trying to distance itself from agriculture,
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said Thursday.
Congress' 1996 Farm Bill mandated a continued reduction in farm
subsidies, forcing farmers to depend more on market prices.
But because of low commodity prices and natural disasters, the
government has spent more than $20 billion a year, for the last three
years, to bail out farmers, Johnson said.
For less money, Congress can pass a new farm bill that would provide
farmers with counter-cyclical payments - high subsidies when crop prices
are low and lower payments when prices rise, he said.
Johnson, a Democrat seeking re-election, held a press conference
Thursday to issue his version of a successful farm bill.
The press conference was held at the Northern Crops Institute on the
North Dakota State University Campus in Fargo.
Freedom to Farm, the current farm bill, expires in 2002.
"Our current farm policy has created greater uncertainty and less
hope for our farmers," Johnson said. "The federal government is
now even more involved in agriculture as a result of Freedom to Farm, but
there is no coherent, logical public policy served by this
involvement."
Johnson's plan for a new farm policy includes:
- Implementing a crop insurance program that protects 90 percent of
farmers' cost of production.
- Government payments or higher loans to farmers who participate in a
voluntary acreage reduction program.
- Developing farmer-owned commodity reserves (pools) to take crops out
of the market when prices are low.
- Developing export programs for new and emerging markets.
- Payments to farmers who voluntarily incorporate conservation
management practices.
Johnson's Republican challenger, Clare Carlson, said help must come
sooner than the next farm bill.
"There's no doubt that farmers need a stable, long-term program
that meets their needs, but we need something sooner than that," said
Carlson, who serves as Gov. Ed Schafer's agriculture advisor. |