The bill would phase out most farm loan guarantees, price supports, and prop erty set-asides. Meanwhile, farmers could plant any crop in any quantity. Or nothing at all. The regulatory changes would be even more significant than the money saved. Enterprising American cotton farmers haven't rushed to ease the crunch, in part because federal regulations restrict cotton supplies, guaran teeing hefty profits for growers.
Farmers get money for leaving some acres idle.
If a banner harvest threatens to drive down world prices, farmers can store their cotton at tax payer expense for as long as 10 months. Freedom to Farm got support from farmers, particularly in the Midwest and West. Such farm -state newspapers as The Chicago Tribune , The Kansas City Star , and the Des Moines Register endorsed it. Articles in these and other papers quote farmers willing to give independence a try. And while the Washington Association of Wheat Growers took no position on the bill, one official told Spokane's Spokesman-Review that many of his members favored the plan.