A Hoosier Farmer Calls for Reform
Senator Lugar's long fight to change agriculture policy
Lugar's proposal this year, crafted with House counterpart Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat, would gradually phase out the subsidy programs and replace them with a new system of savings accounts and insurance programs that would help when farm income is low. Lugar estimates that the bill would save $20 billion by 2012; that cash would then be invested in conservation, nutritional programs, renewable energy, and debt relief.
If Lugar gets his way or at least pushes the eventual legislation in his direction, one reason could be his bumper crop of new allies. "It's been difficult for Lugar to generate enough allies to really change ways," says Clayton Yeutter, who served as secretary of agriculture from 1989 to 1991. But in the past two years, a wide variety of groups have come together seeking reform of the farm bill: including Club for Growth on the conservative side and Oxfam and Bread for the World on the liberal side. They're loosely organized as the Alliance for a Sensible Agriculture Policy, and they have roughly $12 million in backing. Add in outside proposals from former Sens. Bob Dole and Tom Daschle to cut subsidies and a plan from Citigroup for voluntary buyouts for farmers, and traditional farming interests will be tested this year. "There does need to be some change—some reform, not wholesale," says Charles Conner, the Agriculture Department's No. 2 and an ex-Lugar aide.
So far, the debate has been confined to the congressional agriculture committees. Collin Peterson, the House committee chairman, says there will be few changes. "We're going to put together a bill," he says, "that gives farmers an adequate safety net." Peterson calls a Lugar-type proposal a "nonstarter" so far. And Bob Stallman, head of the American Farm Bureau, isn't expecting anything revolutionary. "When you get down to the basic politics, you have a very strong group of core people," he says. "They're going to be paying attention to the agriculture concerns in their districts." But that attitude has the reformists spoiling for a fight, once the full House and Senate take up the legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office says the debate will be an open process, which could last well into the fall. Richard Lugar intends to be there fighting every step of the way.
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