Published: November 26, 2007 6:00 a.m.
Ag bill is feast for farmers, famine for rest
Steven Pearlstein

WASHINGTON – With farm incomes at record levels and the new Democratic majority intent on funding other social programs, who would have thought that Congress would be on the verge of expanding our inefficient and economically distorting farm programs? But that’s just what they’re about to do.

There’s the new $5.1 billion trust fund to provide relief to ranchers and farmers affected by drought and other natural disasters. There are new programs for producers of fruits and vegetables, who’ve managed to survive all these years without subsidy, as well as for growers of sugar beet and cane who – imagine this! – are about to face competition from low-cost Mexican growers. Let’s not forget the innovative idea of offering farmers the option of trading in all their other support programs for one that pays $15 a year for each acre, whether they plant or not, while essentially guaranteeing their revenue will never fall below “normalâ€