U.S. farm subsidy reform may be tied to budget cuts

U.S. farm subsidy cuts of $23 billion would be tied to the creation of a new crop subsidy system under a plan being discussed by Agriculture Committee leaders in Congress, farm lobbyists said on Thursday. The proposal would end the $5 billion-a-year direct payment subsidy. It would endorse a revenue-assistance program to shield growers from "shallow losses" from poor yields or low market prices as the new basis for the U.S. farm program. Leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees aimed to outline the plan in a letter on Friday to the congressional "super committee". That 12-member panel is charged with finding $1.2 trillion in government-wide cuts. The three most frequently cited areas for agricultural cuts are crop subsidies, land stewardship programs and the federally subsidized crop insurance program. Some lawmakers say land stewardship and public nutrition programs, such as food stamps, should be cut alongside farm subsidies since all are part of the Agriculture Department. Cuts in land stewardship could push some farmland out of long-term setasides and back into crop production...more