Food Bounty Provides National Security
As rural America's political power base has shifted
over the years to urban areas, farm program spending increasingly has become a
misunderstood whipping boy. Critics want to know what makes farm families
deserving of public financial support not afforded owners of mom-and-pop
hardware stores or family-owned grocery stores.
The answer is that a family-based ownership structure
is the only common thread shared by these aforementioned enterprises. Farming
always has been an altogether different animal.
In spite of farmers' best efforts to manage natural and
financial risk, they often see their bottom lines blasted by weather disasters,
the crash-and-recover uncertainty of international economics and the whimsy of
domestic regulatory mandates. Each can take a painful bite off the top of an
already-slim profit margin.
Price Takers Have Limited Options
Unlike the hardware or grocery merchant, the bulk of
America's farmers involved in the production of commodities cannot pass
unexpected business expenses or losses along to consumers. Compounding farmers'
overall inability to set prices is the recent trend toward consolidation and
concentration among agribusiness companies that buy farm commodities, which
further trims competition and opportunity in the marketplace.
Greater economic stability for agriculture is an
important public policy goal. It is not an exaggeration to call our farm policy
an issue of national security. America's farmers provide food security for this
nation and much of the rest of the world. On average, America's consumers spend
just 10 percent of their disposable personal incomes for food -- lower than any
other nation on the planet. That leaves the bulk of personal income available
for purchasing the items that bring quality to American life. Food security
forms the foundation of a culture's prosperity and social stability, and that's
a priceless farm program dividend.
Agricultural Support Pays for More than Food Stability
Public support for the farm program is an investment in
people who care for most of our nation's land and water resources. Keeping
farmers on the land ensures the presence of dedicated and motivated caretakers.
A farmer's livelihood and those of his future generations depend on the
viability of a farm's land and water resources. It's a proven fact that farmers
respond to incentive-based conservation programs funded by the
agriculture budget.
The farm program also boosts American agriculture's
role as primer of the nation's economic pump. Jobs are created. Significant
economic multipliers can be applied to each dollar that sprouts on America's
farmland. U.S. agriculture's $12-billion trade surplus makes our nation's dismal
balance of trade less painful. Given current efforts to further liberalize world
agricultural trade, the picture can become even brighter.
Parts of our nation are embroiled in yet another year
of rolling blackouts, and all regions are seeing skyrocketing gasoline prices.
Agriculture's renewable contributions -- ethanol and other biofuels -- to
America's energy strategy already are paying dividends. If given appropriate
public support, they can make an even bigger difference for our economy and the
environment.
Make no mistake. The glue that holds this big picture
together is the income support component of farm programs. Any squeeze on
agricultural funding, however, would likely most affect research, market
development and conservation programs. Members of Congress writing the next farm
bill need the budget authority to assemble a full toolbox that complements farm
income support in areas such as the nation's environmental, economic, energy and
food security. They also need to hear from us now.