We're going broke doing that. Swenson blames the current problems on the 1996 Freedom to Farm Bill which ended 60 years of government enforced production controls. To guard against overproduction, farmers were required to cut back crop acres in exchange for federal subsidies. After Freedom to Farm passed, farmers still received a federal subsidy, but the requirement to cut production was dropped. So they were free to produce as much as they wanted.
Many farmers say that contributed to a price-depressing grain glut.
The Farmers Union and NFO want Congress to change or even revoke Freedom to Farm and pass a new federal program. American Farm Bureau President Dean Kleckner, however, says let the legislation stand. Kleckner says the cause of agriculture's difficulties lies beyond the reach of the U.S. Congress. The world simply can't accommodate that much when demand has dropped off like it has. The demand problems are mainly in Asia where a financial crisis has slashed foreign-grain purchases.