One Farm Bill Plan: Status Quo
As the Farm Bill approaches its renewal date in 2007, numerous groups have started pushing their own vision of what the new bill should say.
One of those strategies would just extend the Farm Bill from 2002. The Center for Rural America thinks this is a bad idea.
Chuck Hassebrook argues that the current Farm Bill’s “bigger farm = more money” structure has hastened the decline of the family farm. His vision for a new Farm Bill is straightforward: “Strictly cap payments to large farms and reinvest the savings in programs that support proven local entrepreneurial initiatives to revitalize rural America – micro enterprise development, leadership development, youth engagement, value added agriculture initiatives, and beginning farmer programs.”
The group works to maintain rural communities, including the small to mid-sized farms that underlie those communities. Take a look at their arguments and tell us what you think.
