Last Chance for Farm Reform
The New York Times, October 20, 2007

Last summer, the House approved a deeply disappointing farm bill that would perpetuate a lavish, outdated system of price supports that disproportionately rewards big farmers, complicates American trade policy and does little to help consumers. Unless the Democratic leadership shows some unaccustomed gumption, the Senate could wind up making the same mistakes.

President Bush, who has generally been on the right side of the farm issue, should think seriously about a veto if nothing better arrives on his desk. Otherwise, the country is in for another five years of bad farm policy.

The House bill provides billions of dollars in price supports and payments to producers of crops like wheat, corn and soybeans — even though crop prices, fueled by the ethanol boom, are at or near all-time highs. These handouts also complicate trade negotiations and discriminate against poor farmers overseas who cannot compete against America’s subsidized producers.

Tom Harkin, the independent-minded Iowa Democrat who runs the Senate Agriculture Committee, had proposed to slash these subsidies and reinvest as much as $6 billion in conservation programs. But farm-state stalwarts rose up in anguished, bipartisan protest and Mr. Harkin backed down. The result was that ideas for reforming the system from more adventurous thinkers like Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, and Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, went down the drain.

The Senate bill does have some positives. It would increase payments for the food stamp program and for an array of important conservation programs aimed at preserving wetlands and open space. It also provides money for biofuels. Yet this isn’t the 21st-century farm program that reformers had hoped for.

Mr. Harkin plans to make his case again when the bill arrives on the Senate floor, while Mr. Lugar and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey may offer alternative bills. We wish them well. We also hope that Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, gives them more support than Democratic leaders gave to similar efforts in the House three months ago.