Included in the fiscal 2012 federal budget proposed last week by House Republicans is a 10-year, $30 billion reduction in federal farm spending. "With crop prices –– and deficits –– hitting new highs, it is time to adjust support to this industry to reflect economic realities," according to the plan released April 5 by the House Budget Committee.
The cuts would reduce federal agricultural spending from $22 billion this year to a range of $16 billion to $17 billion a year, starting in 2014. The exact cuts would be left up to the Agriculture committees that are due to write the next farm bill in 2012. The reductions could include cuts in conservation and nutrition programs as well as in farm subsidies.
The deficit-reduction plan recommended two specific places to get the $30 billion: the $5 billion in annual direct payments that go to grain and cotton farmers and the federally subsidized crop insurance program.
The proposal introduced by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also would convert the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, into state block grants. New eligibility and job-training or work requirements would be established by 2015, when Ryan projects that the U.S. economy will have recovered from the recession.
Ryan said the program has grown beyond what could be expected as a response to the weakened economy. The program provides states with incentives to increase enrollment but does nothing to encourage them to move people into work, he said. SNAP is expected to cost $700 billion over the next 10 years, up from a 10-year estimate of $400 billion in 2007.
The Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, has not developed a similar plan yet for cutting the deficit.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) issued a statement which said, in part, "The House Budget Committee has outlined a plan that may shock some, but this only illustrates the deep hole we are in. While I might not agree with every proposed cut, we are well past the point where trillion-dollar deficits can be ignored."
In a statement issued by the National Corn Growers Association, organization President Bart Schott said: "These cuts are significant, but so is our nation's out-of-control budget deficit. What is important is that farmers are not singled out — the cuts proposed for agriculture are proportional to those proposed for other areas of the federal budget. We know this is just the beginning of the budget discussion.
"No matter the outcome, we are committed to working with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to fashion a farm bill that provides farmers with risk management tools that are there when they truly need them."
