Republican congressman from Iowa says farmers should expect spending cuts in 2012 Farm Bill

Farmers may see cuts in some agriculture programs as Congress looks to trim back federal spending in the 2012 Farm Bill, warns one Iowa legislator. Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell, left, told the editorial board of The Gazette of Cedar Rapids the next farm bill will have a "safety net," but "programs may have to be capped or 'adjusted,'" James Q. Lynch of The Gazette reports. "There’s going to be a major effort to get our arms around reducing the debt and starting to draw back on it," said Boswell. "We can’t keep accumulating this debt. Everyone has got to share, so how can you share and still do what you do and have a safety net?"

Boswell said at hearings with farmers, producers, processors and others in the agriculture industry that lawmakers have been trying to determine what stakeholders really need. "You’re not going to get everything," he said. "I think they understood." Boswell, who like all House members is up for re-election this fall, "offered few specifics on adjustments to crop insurance, which he called farmers' safety net," Lynch writes. He advocated for the protection of and perhaps increasing assistance for biodiesel and other renewable energy sources. (Read more)