Feingold Backs Capping Agriculture Subsidies To Wealthy Farmers, Landowners

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Cosponsors Dorgan-Grassley Amendment to Farm Bill to Redirect Payments Away from the Wealthiest Producers and Toward Hunger, Nutrition, and Conservation Programs

December 10, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. – As the Senate resumes debate on the Farm Bill, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is supporting a cap on subsidy payments to the largest producers. Feingold is cosponsoring an amendment offered by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to lower the total amount of payments any individual can receive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bipartisan amendment, supported by a wide range of organizations, would cap direct payments at $250,000 per person per year, with the money saved going towards conservation, nutrition, food aid, and other important programs. The current cap of $360,000 is riddled with loopholes and has proven ineffective.

“The farm safety net is meant to help smaller farms remain competitive, not to dole out subsidies to wealthy farmers and landowners who no longer use their land for farming,” Feingold said. “We need to seriously reform how subsidies are paid out by closing these loopholes and redirecting these resources towards high priorities like tackling hunger and working land conservation.”

The Dorgan-Grassley amendment would close loopholes in the system that have allowed the wealthiest farmers to receive subsidies while indirectly pushing small and mid-sized farms out of business. The amendment would track the subsidies to their ultimate beneficiary to ensure they get to those who need them. The amendment would also ensure payments are going to working farms by tightening qualification requirements. The Dorgan-Grassley amendment would save $1.15 billion over ten years. Those savings would be redirected to programs that fight hunger, invest in land conservation, assist new and minority farmers, spur rural business and support healthy, local food systems.

Feingold plans to also offer an amendment with Senator Menendez (D-NJ) to reform the direct payment system by cutting the largest giveaways to farming operations and large land owners receiving more than $10,000 in payments per year. Feingold’s amendment would redirect over $1.5 billion to programs that benefit a much broader group of farmers and rural communities through conservation, nutrition, and creating more opportunities for rural Americans.

Source: Senator Russ Feingold