Vilsack: Plan for farm payment cuts better than last year's 'ill thought out and inappropriate' idea

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said yesterday that the Obama adminmistration's latest proposal to cut direct payments for some farmers is very different from the one it offered last year, a plan he called “ill thought out and not appropriate.” Vilasck told the House agriculture appropriations subcommittee, “We calculate of the 1.4 million farmers who currently qualify for direct payments and things of that nature, only about 30 thousand across the country are going to be impacted.”

The proposal seems unlikely to pass, but Vilsack said the issue needs action in light of the federal budget. “Somebody could make, in theory, about $600 [thousand] to $700,000 and still get a check from the government,” he said. “You know, if we’re going to be serious about deficits we’ve got to look someplace and this was one place to look.”

Julie Harker of Brownfield Network reports, “Vilsack says the 2011 budget has a strong safety net when you look at the 'whole package' which includes research money, export promotion money, and efforts for commodity purchases as well.” (Read more)