Finally, Congress should take some reasonable steps to reduce the extreme volatility in commodity markets. Re-establishing a farmer owned grain reserve to absorb surpluses in times like these and release them in times of short supply would both stabilize farm income and enhance food security. A short term environmental reserve could pay farmers to protect the environment in ways that reduce production in periods of excessive surpluses and depressed prices. That would be good for both farmers and the environment. These reasonable steps would promote the common good and begin to create a long term future for family farms and ranches.
American agriculture is at a crossroad.
The direction we choose will determine whether many individual farms survive the immediate crisis, and even more important, whether the family farm system survives and prospers in the future. The Senate has addressed the immediate problem, but in a manner that compounds the long term problem. The good news is that it can be fixed with some old fashioned political courage and some future oriented vision. Chuck Hassebrook is Program Director of the Center for Rural Affairs of Walthill, Nebraska.