By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A 2012 farm bill listening session last week in Fort Wayne gave Hoosiers a chance to ask questions and voice concerns about the upcoming legislation.

About 130 people attended the Aug. 25 meeting, which included remarks by U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), who represents the state’s 3rd District.

Lugar serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Stutzman on the House Committee on Agriculture. The questions from the audience focused on a variety of issues, including ethanol subsidies, direct payments, crop insurance and nutrition programs.

The farm bill will be written during a time when the president and Congress are looking for ways to cut spending in an attempt to balance the budget and bring down the nation’s debt.

“We’re at a very difficult juncture in agriculture,” Lugar noted. “This is a critical moment that has great controversy and emotion with it.”

Congress has mandated that 12 legislators – six from the Senate and six from the House, from both political parties – come up with budget cuts between $1.2 trillion-$1.5 trillion by Dec. 23, Lugar explained. If the “super committee” cannot come to an agreement, mandatory cuts will go into effect, he added.
“The budget situation is grim, but agriculture is a bright spot,” he stated. “We’re producing things that people want to buy. The worldwide markets are strong for the products we’re producing. And land values in the state are truly astounding.”

Agriculture can be a leader in dialogue about the budget and ways to best use resources, Stutzman said.

“We’re leading in so many different ways in being resourceful and careful with the products we use. In Indiana, we have great resources and we produce food here in ways that other parts of the world don’t. One thing I’m proud of is we have the ability to feed the world,” he said.

“This is an unprecedented time in agriculture. There’s a lot to be excited about, but a lot of concern too. We understand times have changed and we understand the situation calls for serious dialogue and discussions. We cannot sustain the levels of spending in Washington. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem, but an American problem and we all have to be at the table.”

Ethanol subsidies will probably be cut, Lugar noted, but he hopes the blender’s credit, which provides oil companies an economic incentive to blend ethanol with gasoline, will remain.

Arranging an effective distribution system for ethanol has also been a problem, he said.

Ethanol has to be a part of the nation’s energy portfolio, Stutzman stated. “Energy production should be broad-based. Anything that makes sense should be a part of our energy supply.”

In addition to ethanol, he mentioned natural gas, coal, wind and solar as important energy resources.

Stutzman, a fourth-generation farmer from northern Indiana, said he advocates the elimination of direct payments because those payments manipulate the markets.

“The government should focus on crop insurance,” he said. “If we’re going to reduce direct payments, we have to make sure we have a strong safety net in place.”

Lugar, who manages his family’s farm in Marion County, Ind., agreed. “I believe we ought to have crop insurance, but I would enlarge it to whole farm insurance that would include livestock, trees and everything on the farm. There would not be competition between the various crops. We’d have an underlying safety net at relatively little expense.”

More than three-quarters of the USDA’s budget goes toward nutrition programs such as food stamps and school lunches, Lugar noted, adding the need for greater efficiency in the distribution of food stamps and control of such programs is crucial.

Fraud and abuse in nutrition and food programs prevent people who really need the help from getting it, Stutzman said. “We are a very compassionate people and we ask ourselves how can we help people who really are in need. Reform is needed. We also need job creation so people can provide for their families, like I know many people want to,” he explained.