As Senate Nears Action on Farm Bill, Economic Study Shows Missouri Would Benefit from Shifting Some Direct Payment Subsidies to Conservation Funding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact:
Sean Crowley – 202-572-3331 or scrowley@environmentaldefense.org
Sharyn Stein – 202-572-3396 or sstein@environmentaldefense.org
 
(Washington, DC – September 27, 2007) A new analysis of Farm Bill spending by a former USDA economist shows that farmers in Missouri would receive $5,979,201 more in annual federal support by shifting “direct” subsidy payments to provide $6 billion more in funding for voluntary USDA conservation programs than they would receive if the current Farm Bill were extended.* USDA conservation programs help farmers provide cleaner air, cleaner water, and wildlife habitat and protect farmland from development. Increasing funding for conservation programs by $6 billion is the stated goal of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin. His committee is expected to consider how to revise the Farm Bill as soon as next week.
 
Based upon the average conservation payment per recipient of less than $4,200 in 2005, expanded conservation funding in 37 states would allow another 114,000 farmers and ranchers to benefit from partnerships with USDA to improve air quality, water quality, and wildlife habitat, restore wetlands and protect farmland from sprawl. The study, “Fairness on the Farm: Subsidy Reform Would Help More Farmers in More States,” predicts reductions in federal farm spending in the remaining states would represent less than one percent of the market value of production in each of those states.
 
Currently, six out of 10 farmers grow fruits, nuts, vegetables and other crops that are ineligible for direct subsidy payments and the largest 10 percent of direct payment recipients collect 64 percent of all payments. Under current farm policies, half of all farm program spending goes to just seven states.
 
“Our farm subsidies are broken,” said Tim Male, senior scientist for Environmental Defense. “The most expensive subsidies - direct payments - cost tens of billions of dollars, provide payments at the wrong times, and provide no help to most farmers. Greater funding for conservation programs would help more farmers and produce enormous public benefits.” 
 
USDA data shows that two out of three farmers are rejected when they offer to share the cost of meeting our environmental challenges because of our misplaced spending priorities. Direct subsidies are fixed payments linked to a farm’s past crop production, not to current prices or production, and are made even when farmers are earning record-level net incomes, as USDA data shows they are doing this year. High farm prices and incomes are expected to continue throughout the five years covered by the 2007 Farm Bill.
 
“Farmers in too many states and regions don’t get a fair share of federal farm spending; conservation dollars are distributed more equitably,” said Sara Hopper, an attorney for Environmental Defense. “For Missouri’s two senators, voting against reforms that reduce some subsidies and invest more in conservation programs will mean voting against their own farmers’ interests.”
 

*Below is a list of the 37 states that would benefit from shifting direct subsidy payments to conservation funding and the annual net gain they would receive compared to an extension of the current Farm Bill:

 

Alabama
$27,947,656
Alaska
$1,326,730
Arizona
$9,921,190
California
$10,922,894
Colorado
$20,326,568
Connecticut
$3,057,138
Delaware
$3,645,395
Florida
$26,021,150
Georgia
$13,223,343
Hawaii
$4,101,699
Idaho
$8,624,625
Kentucky
$17,716,677
Maine
$13,534,158
Maryland
$5,113,399
Massachusetts
$4,117,188
Michigan
$925,796
Mississippi
$4,758,553
Missouri
$5,979,201
Montana
$18,509,533
Nevada
$7,785,134
New Hampshire
$3,371,618
New Jersey
$2,470,688
New Mexico
$17,338,705
New York
$18,785,058
North Carolina
$33,392,817
Oklahoma
$1,949,912
Oregon
$17,730,402
Pennsylvania
$12,920,165
Rhode Island
$1,279,274
South Carolina
$10,279,307
Tennessee
$8,675,993
Utah
$24,358,434
Vermont
$8,283,516
Virginia
$18,575,900
Washington
$10,968,581
West Virginia
$18,037,253
Wyoming
$21,295,176
 
For a detailed breakdown of how farmers in 37 states would benefit under this scenario and to see the full report, visit www.environmentaldefense.org/farms.

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