Are Feds Phasing Out $$$ Handouts For Farmers?

Thanks to their influence in Washington, and the iconic status of the American farmer, for decades U.S. agriculture enjoyed a sacred place in the federal budget and received massive handouts from Congress. That may be coming to an end, but not without a fight.

"Farmers and ranchers are willing to do their share, we just don't want to do more than our fair share," says Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau. "We compete with farmers around the world and until other farmers and other governments are willing to give up their subsidies, we are unwilling to give up ours."

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Three programs face big cuts: conservation subsides that give farmers money to take marginal lands out of production for wildlife, crop insurance, and direct payments to farmers who plant corn, cotton, wheat, soybean, rice and peanuts. The farmers of these commodities are eligible for government payouts whether they farm or not.

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