The payments are meant to give farmers a financial cushion to prepare for their looming independence, and the flexibility to experiment with new crops and different techniques to become more profitable. Currently, more than 36 million acres of farmland across the nation are in the program. Politicians and farmers alike praise the bill for freeing the farming community from the burden of government bureaucracy and intervention. Spokane Republican Congressman George Nethercutt, who says the idea for the bill came from members of his district, maintains it was the combination of a Republican Congress demanding a balanced budget in the next seven years and the independent-minded farmers looking to get away from government control that made passage possible. We are allowing the farmers a chance to plan ahead so when the funds are cut off in seven years, they will be in a position to be independent.
Farmers bristle at the notion of the subsidies and speak bitterly about the government's heavy hand.
Farmers are independent people. They want to rely on themselves. These programs had their place and they had their time. But we've gone beyond that point. It's a new world out there.