By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Agriculture probably won’t be spared, as Congress works to create a 2012 farm bill while trying to reduce the nation’s deficit, the president of the Indiana Farm Bureau said last week.

Speaking before a group of about 200 visitors to the Fort Wayne Farm Show on Jan. 18, Don Villwock said the multi-trillion dollar deficit will only continue to increase if severe cuts aren’t made.

“We’re facing a massive federal deficit that has the attention of most members of Congress. It’s an extremely, extremely large number. Cuts will be made.”
The traditional notion is that when agriculture is in trouble, the industry tends to get sympathy, Villwock noted, but news of record farm income in 2010 will make it more difficult to keep funding at current levels.

“I don’t think anyone (in agriculture) doesn’t want to step up and do our share if the economy of the United States is in jeopardy. But of all the farm bills I’ve been involved with, this will probably be the most difficult and the most challenging.”

The 2012 farm bill may get written this year or next, he said, as there have been changes in both the U.S. House and Senate agriculture committees, as well as new chairman for both.

More than 75 percent of the USDA’s budget goes to nutrition programs, something that is occasionally lost on those who complain about subsidies to farmers, but should be pointed out when the issue is brought up, Villwock explained.

Crop insurance takes up about 9 percent of the USDA budget, while conservation and commodity programs each take up about 7 percent, he said.
Direct payments mean more to farmers in some areas than they do in others, he said, noting that Midwestern farmers who grow corn, soybeans and wheat depend less on those payments than do farmers in the southern states.

“In the Midwestern states, we’re probably more likely to give up direct payments if we can maintain crop insurance as a safety net. Having a viable crop insurance program is important to us. But in the southern states, they seem to have more droughts, floods and high winds, and crop insurance doesn’t work for them as much. They’d rather maintain direct payments.

“Even in our agriculture family, there will be a lot of recommendations of how we divide the pie up.” Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Conser-vation Security Program and the Environ-mental Quality Incentives Program could be on the chopping block, Villwock said, adding that every area covered under the farm bill will be scrutinized.

One of the new members of the U.S. House agriculture committee is Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), elected to his first term in November as a representative from part of northeastern Indiana.

He will also serve on House budget and veterans affairs committees.
“We have to cut spending. There is no other choice. We’re facing some major battles. We have to get back to a farm bill that works for agriculture.”

Since 1980, when then-President Ronald Reagan asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling to just over $1 trillion, the country has accumulated an additional $13 trillion in debt, he noted.

“How do we start cutting? We all know that Washing-ton is spending too much money at a time when our economy is shaking all of us.”

Stutzman said that while everything needs to be on the table when discussing how to lower the deficit, he will not support a tax increase.

“The deficit we face threatens us in a lot of ways. That’s why we’re the greatest country in the world. We take these challenges on and we find a solution.”