| U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton said Monday he will introduce agriculture
legislation that will target farmers who need government subsidies the
most.
Dayton, D-Minn., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he
will likely introduce the Farm Income Recovery Act as an amendment to
legislation offered by the committees chairman, Sen. Tom Harkin,
D-Iowa.
Dayton said he will introduce the legislation when the committee, now
in markup of agriculture legislation, turns its attention to commodity
programs.
The Farm Income Recovery Act, crafted by the National Farmers Union,
would limit farm benefits based on production caps, he said.
Farmers could receive government payments based on as much as 125,000
bushels of wheat. On any additional wheat, farmers would be eligible only
for U.S. Department of Agriculture loans.
The legislation sets benefit caps on other program crops including
soybeans (100,000 bushels), and corn (225,000).
Farmers, ought to be on their own as they choose to get larger and
larger, Dayton said during a conference call with reporters Monday.
The caps would help target farmers who need subsidies the most and
would discourage overproduction, he said.
The Farm Income Recovery Act also increases loan rates for some crops
above other proposals and bases the rates on farmers costs of
production instead of historical pricing data, Dayton said.
The proposed legislation would increase the average loan rate on wheat
from $2.58 to $3.88 per bushel.
Under current agriculture policy and some proposed farm bills, farmers
are eligible for loan deficiency payments when the price of program crops
fall below their loan rates. By raising loan rates, farmers are eligible
for bigger payments when prices fall.
The legislation also would create a food assistance reserve and
renewable energy reserve to reduce crop supplies, Dayton said. |