More insanity>>Lawmakers Push To End Farm Loan Cap
-- Farmers would see grain prices rise
and get a subsidy in times of low prices under legislation pushed
by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and other midwestern
and southern Democrats.
Saying it would only ''tweak'' the 1996 farm law, Gephardt,
D-Mo., introduced legislation Wednesday to lift the cap on
marketing loan rates to 85 percent of historic price levels. The bill
also would extend the life of such loans from nine months to 15
months. A similar measure has been introduced in the Senate.
Members of the National Farmers Union back the proposal,
arguing it provides more flexibility in marketing.
''Producers have been placed down in the economic gutter,'' said
Tom Giessel, a farmer from Larned, Kan., and vice president of
Farmers Union. ''I have all the equipment and tools on my farm
to produce a safe and bountiful supply of grain. What I don't have
are the tools to market my grain.''
Federal commodity loans allow farmers to hold onto crops for
later sale, and the rate at which the loans are made serves as a
floor under crop prices. The loans don't cost the government
unless farmers forfeit their crop rather than repay the loan.
Growers are unlikely to forfeit crops at the relatively low rates
set by the 1996 farm law. Raising the cap probably would result
in some forfeitures.
''The 1996 bill slashed the safety net by cutting these rates
sharply,'' Gephardt said. ''Our bill boosts loan rates. Corn and
soybeans up 30 cents per bushel. Wheat up 59 cents per bushel.
Cotton up 4 cents per pound. It restores a minimum wage for
America's farmers.''
Republicans in the Senate and House have indicated they are
reluctant to reopen the 1996 farm law, which froze the ceiling on
loan rates at 1995 levels. Designed to wean farmers from
dependence on government programs, that farm law will expire in
2002.
Gephardt said the potential cost to taxpayers is about $6.5 billion
over 10 years. |
