by The Free Press
— The recent breakdown of world talks on tariffs and trade probably only put off for a year or two dramatic changes in U.S. farm subsidies.
Indeed, the winds appear to be blowing against a continuation of a U.S. farm subsidy system that even Bush administration critics increasingly argue is unfair and a system the rest of the world sees as unjustified.
The World Trade Organization has been meeting for years to help countries negotiate fair trade agreements.
Those discussions take aim at individual country farm subsidies and U.S. subsidies have been at the center of attack from competing countries in South America who have very few subsidy programs.
In fact, the WTO recently determined that some U.S. cotton subsidies were illegal under world trade rules in a case brought by Brazil.
Despite the longtime strong political backing enjoyed by farm programs, a growing coalition of food producers and vegetable growers has begun an effort to lobby for change.
“It’s obvious we have to put together a coalition that can overcome the entrenched politics of our farm programs,” Food Products Association head Cal Dooley told the Associated Press.
Food manufacturers, fruit and vegetable growers, livestock producers, conservation groups and even nutrition groups are part of a developing coalition that wants to limit or at least even out subsidies that mostly go to corn, soybean, wheat, cotton and rice growers who get most of the U.S. agriculture subsidies.
The support of those traditional agriculture programs appears to be waning.
The Bush Administration would like to see farm subsidies distributed more evenly and they often criticize current programs because fruit and vegetable growers are left out.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has suggested rewriting the farm bill next year as scheduled despite no concessions from other countries in the world trade talks.
Chairmen of the House and Senate agriculture committees have given tacit approval to extending programs for one year, but by that action seem to leave the door open to change.
Even the American Farm Bureau Federation has not come out on the side of sticking to current farm programs.
Any subsidies to fruit and vegetable growers would surely lower those for corn, soybean and wheat growers.
That kind of change could send shock waves through heavy corn and soybean areas like southern Minnesota. Farm subsidies are certainly a hot topic for debate in these tough budget times. There’s likely to be change, but it may be a few years off.
The worse thing farmers could do is not be aware when a storm is coming.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
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