Our View — Farm Bill leaves out small-scale growers

The Free Press

March 25, 2008 01:13 am

— It’s called the Farm Bill. But if you’re a farmer who wants to grow vegetables, fruit or other specialty crops, it’s not your Farm Bill.
As Congress writes the new Farm Bill, which will be in effect the next five years, legislators are again succumbing to the largest farm lobbying groups and failing to change the bill to meet the needs and desires of American consumers.
A recent published report tells of a Twin Cities vegetable farmer who last year rented extra farm land to meet the growing demand for local organic vegetables and fruit. He planted tomatoes and watermelon on the 275 acres of land and found an eager local market for his fresh goods.
Unfortunately, his landlord got in a jam with the federal government. The reason? Under the existing Farm Bill the land owner was penalized in his farm payments because he’d allowed corn and soybean acres to be converted to another use.
The language in the Farm Bill that prevents people from turning traditional crop land into use for other crops stems from pressure by large and powerful fruit and vegetable growers in California. They don’t want farmers in other states cutting into their market by planting more acres to vegetables and fruits.
So far, those in Congress writing the new Farm Bill have shown little willingness to go against the large-scale operators from the West.
Putting limits on small-scale, non-traditional crops runs counter to what more and more Americans want — fresh produce grown close to home.
Large traditional farm industries are going to get the lion’s share of Farm Bill subsidies. But Congress should better fashion the bill to help support small-scale and alternative farm production — not hinder them.