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$9 billion may be starting point in quest for balanced safety net From 1979 to 1999, the U.S. government spent an average $9.1 billion on farm programs. That may be a starting point for federal lawmakers to use in evaluating possible
fixes to the 1996 Farm Bill, according to Abner Womack, co-director of the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute, who spoke at the recent Wheat Industry Conference and Exposition. FAPRI (www.fapri.missouri.edu, or www.fapri.org)
is a national farm policy organization that federal and international policy makers often turn to for analysis of farm policy trends and new policy proposals. FAPRI research is enhanced through collaboration with universities across the United States.
Womack said that FAPRI has conducted a comparative analysis of "Freedom To Farm" compared to the old Farm Bill, and found that one will definitely be better than the other at certain periods. Farmers made out better
with the new bill in 1996 and 97, but would have been better off the last two years under the old bill. Compared over seven years, however, the two bills compare about the same. FAPRI researchers have
evaluated several policy proposals put forth by federal lawmakers looking at ways to fix safety net holes in domestic farm policy. What lawmakers need to do in evaluating farm policy changes, said Womack, is
"to find balance" among key reasons that many countries have farm programs. That includes the needs of producers, food security, trade with other countries, conservation and environmental preservation, rural
stabilization, and federal budget parameters. |
