By GEORGE ANTHAN / Des Moines Register Washington Bureau / Tuesday, 10/03/2000
Washington, D.C. - A tiny number of the nation's biggest farmers and agricultural landowners are set to again reap a double harvest of cash subsidies, thanks to a quiet effort in Congress to set aside federal payment limits.
The move would benefit fewer than 5,000 farm subsidy recipients nationwide who approach the current $75,000 cap, according to a nonpartisan research group that has analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture records. There are 91,000 farm subsidy recipients in Iowa alone.
This year's move would be similar to a step taken by Congress in 1999, affecting last year's crops. That action was spearheaded by southern legislators representing cotton and rice producers.
Limit doubled
The move doubled the federal payment limit, excluding Freedom to Farm payments, from $75,000 to $150,000, and to $300,000 for three-owner farms. There were 3,362 subsidy recipients benefitting from that change.
"It's for the big, heavy powers that be," said Earl Sime of Radcliffe, who grows corn and soybeans on 600 acres. "They're the ones who talk to the people who write these farm programs. What they want to do is get rid of the guy who farms 600 acres."
The analysis of subsidies on 1999 crops was conducted by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization financed by several foundations.
Iowa recipients
The organization's data for Iowa illustrate the small number of farm payment recipients who benefit from efforts to boost the federal payment limits.
Kenneth Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, said Iowans received a total of $837 million, or an average payment of $9,134 - well below the $75,000 limit.
A total of 173 Iowans benefitted from the increased limit for 1999 crops, according to the group's analysis. These individuals collected a total of $15.6 million.
Another 16 Iowa farm businesses qualified for up to $300,000 in federal subsidy payments on 1999 crops. They collected a total of $2.8 million.
Deficiency payments
Sime, the Radcliffe farmer, will receive less than $35,000 in so-called "loan deficiency payments" this year. The payments make up the difference between market prices and a minimum federally guaranteed price of about $1.89 a bushel for corn and $5.26 a bushel for soybeans. The subsidies in 1999 total $6.7 billion, and they're estimated to reach almost $8 billion for 2000 crops.
Sime said he considers himself a medium-sized farmer, "and my payments come to about one-half the $75,000 limit. And now they want to double the limit again? They want to take care of the guy who farms four sections (2,560 acres)."
U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., and Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said they have, at best, mixed feelings about the proposal.
"The cap was meant to target government money toward small and medium-sized farms," Grassley said. "But some of the largest operations have figured out how to get around the payment caps.
"So, arguably, if the cap isn't keeping those large operations from collecting more money, the government might as well let midsize operations ... have a larger share of the money," he said.
Harkin is a member of the House-Senate conference committee that will consider the payment limit this week during negotiations on an overall agricultural appropriations bill.
"Farm programs are supposed to help family farmers stay in business and remain part of their communities, not to give the biggest and wealthiest farms even more money to expand their operations," Harkin said.
Harkin said "huge payments to big corporate farms are unfair and damage the public image of programs for family farmers.":
