Wheat grower defends direct payments

Washington Ag March 3, 2009 The only portion of the federal farm program safety net wheat growers have benefited from in recent years is the direct payment. It comes in good crop years and bad crop years. When prices high and when prices are low. It can be counted on by the farmer and his banker but it is also under attack and its future is uncertain. Some members of congress say the direct payment is indefensible. The vice president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, Brett Blankenship, doesn’t buy that. Blankenship: “You know Bob when I was a young boy and my mom took me to the store with her the price of bread was about a $1 a loaf. I was at Costco last weekend and that same comparable loaf of bread is about $2. And Bob, fifty years have gone by so that is incredible price stability over 50 years and that is what farm program payments provide. So, we should not be embarrassed by the farm bill or direct payments that are in the farm bill, we should be proud of the fact that we provide safe and inexpensive food for a hungry world.� At least week’s Commodity Classic in Texas the National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Sorghum Producers and the American Soybean Association all reiterated the importance of the farm safety net as written in the 2008 Farm Bill and expressed opposition to reopening the farm bill before its expiration in 2012. Those groups represent 90 percent the U.S. crop planted acreage. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.