How the Farm Bill affects Kansas
10:47 p.m. Thursday, May 15, 2008
President Bush has said from the get-go that the 2008 Farm Bill won't have his support. Subsidies to wealthy farmers is the reason.
Still, it passed today with enough votes from the House and Senate to override his veto.
A local farmer explained to 49 News why he thinks the bill is a good compromise for everyone who gets farm funding.
Tiny little corn plants are subsidized by the government, something Douglas County farmer Mark Wulfkule says kept his family farm going a few years back.
"Corn was selling for less than $2 a bushel. We were getting what they call a LDP payments to help prop up the price. Without those, we were losing money even with those. Without it, it would have been disastrous," Wilfkule said.
Where does the money go
Some people who are against the Farm Bill say it's because most of the money does not go to farmers. We did the math and found $200 billion of the $290 billion dollar farm bill actually goes to food stamps and other domestic nutrition programs, not farming.
Prices have since risen and across the nation, legislators overwhelmingly supported the 2008 Farm Bill . Democratic Representative Chris Carney from Pennsylvania said, "It promotes things we love and value. You can't say the family farm is a partisan issue."
One hot topic for those against the bill is if farmers be paid to leave the ground dormant.
"All the idle ground is a conservation reserve and a lot is used for wildlife and green space. It does have it's place," Wulfkule said.
Still, this bill won't give farmers the kind of subsidies the 2002 bill did.
"Right now, it won't be too painful because of high grain prices, but no guarantee two years from now they won't be back down," he said.
That's just one reason the bill got mixed support from Kansas legislators. But at the end of the day, Mark says he's in favor of the bill.
"This is probably a pretty good compromise. That's what politics is, a compromise. I think it's better than no bill at all," he said.
Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback voted for the farm bill. So did Representatives Nancy Boyda and Dennis Moore.
Representatives Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt voted against it.
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