02/21/05 Lawmakers give ag budget cool reception

Farm and Ranch February 21, 2005 It was a bit of a tough sell for the Administration's proposed farm spending cuts for fiscal year 2006 before a House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee last week. Some committee member comments on the proposed reductions; Lawmakers: "The idea of reducing these payments to farmers is a huge mistake. I think it highly unlikely that this Congress, even under the same party as the President, is going to enact those reductions." There to defend the Administration's budget was Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Johanns: "Deficit reduction is so essential to the economic prosperity of farmers and ranchers. And deficit reduction is something that they look at and say we've got to do something about it. It just makes sens for the future of agriculture." Johanns did indicate the President was willing to compromise on the specifics in order to reach his spending reduction goal. Johanns: "The majority of the savings from these proposals is obtained from an across the board reduction in program payments, and we willing to work with Congress in order to achieve the savings estimated in the President's budget." In addition to the five percent reduction in program payments, the Administration has proposed reducing the payment limitation to a 250-thousand dollar hard cap. That would primarily impact southern cotton and rice producers. Spending reductions are also proposed for research. Major farm and commodity organizations are opposing the ag spending cuts I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.