DRAFT Sample Letter (personalize to your farm
situation)
Date:
Dear Congressman or Senator __________,
I recently learned the fiscal year 2010 budget presented to Congress by
President Obama proposed to eliminate direct payments to any farm with sales
over $500,000. As you are aware, the direct payment program is one part of the
2008 Farm Bill safety net for U.S. farmers. (Give a personal example of how
this affects you or farmers in your area.)
Please do not reduce the limited government support given to farmers by
following the President’s budget proposal to limit direct payments to producers.
American farmers provide great benefit to the public with the safest, most
abundant and least expensive food supply in the world. I urge you to support
America’s farmers and ranchers and oppose cuts to farm program payments in
the President’s budget proposal.
The proposed budget will have a profound impact on farmers like myself and will
not yield the needed deficit reduction measures the President seeks.
Additionally, these budget proposals undermine the recently-passed and not-yet
implemented 2008 farm bill.
This budget proposal also puts US food production at greater financial risk by
eliminating direct payments to farms with sales of more than $500,000. A single
family farm with $500,000 in sales often supports multiple members of a farm
family, such as a father, adult sons/daughters and adult grand children. These
farms represent mainstream family farms in the United States and they produce
the vast majority of this country's safe, abundant and inexpensive food supply.
Further, according to the most recent data available at USDA, more than 10% of
farmers who are part of a farm operation with sales greater than $500,000 still
have negative household income. With agricultural input costs increasing by
40% in the past five years and USDA expecting net farm income to drop 20% this
year, this is not the time to cut farm programs.
I ask you to oppose any efforts to undermine the intent of the 2008 Farm Bill’s
safety net. Thank you for your consideration and acceptance of this request.