Sioux City Journal, IA
07-05-07
Johanns pushes caps on farm subsidies
By Dan Gearino Journal Des Moines Bureau
AMES, Iowa -- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said Tuesday that he
hopes the new farm bill will be law by the end of the year and he hopes the
measure will include caps on subsidy payments.
"I think, by and large, the proposals work very well for Iowa," he said, appearing
at town meeting at Ames City Hall with U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa.
The farm bill, renewed about every five years, is the main instrument of federal
agriculture policy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has submitted a proposal
to Congress, but neither the House nor the Senate has begun to debate the bill.
Johanns supports a plan the cut off certain farm subsidies for landowners whose
adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 per year. Only about 2 percent of
Americans earn that much and the agriculture department estimates that only
38,000 farmers would see a drop in payments.
The subsidy plan is in response to criticism that the largest payments go to
wealthy farmers and investors, leaving less money for programs that help smaller
farms.
Johanns said the proposal to cut subsidies is "probably one of the most
controversial" parts of the farm bill process.
Tom Harrington, an agriculture professor at Iowa State University, rose to
criticize the current subsidy system, calling it "corporate welfare." He also said
the Iraq war is the "800-pound elephant" in any policy discussion because it
affects federal government spending across the board. He said the war should
end as soon as possible.
In response, Latham said he continues to assess the situation in Iraq and will
visit there later this summer. Johanns had no comment about Iraq, saying he
would stick to agriculture issues.
The visit was a homecoming of sorts for Johanns. He was born and raised in
Osage, which is about two hours from Ames. Several of his relatives made the
trip to see him. "Don't listen to anything they tell you about when I was growing
up," Johanns said at the beginning of the meeting.
One of the most important players on the farm bill was in central Iowa Tuesday,
but not at the meeting. U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee. He spent the afternoon in Des Moines touting the
success of a program to safeguard anhydrous ammonia tanks from meth
makers.