nding people's money back in individual increments of up to $300 means there is less money for five- and six-figure checks to farmers such as themselves. (Berry's family enterprises raked in $649,750 in farm subsidies over the last five years. Stenholm received $39,298 over the same period.) Advocates for American farmers are extremely worried about what the declining fortune of the federal treasury means for them. In July, Democrats were forced to accept $2 billion less in the routine emergency farm bill. And the House will soon vote on a 10-year, $171 billion farm package that guarantees payments to indigent farmers. Taxpayers might well wonder what happened to the free market farm policy that was enshrined in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Bill. That law freed farmers of row crops such as corn, wheat, cotton, rice, and soybeans from much federal regulation in exchange for giving up guaranteed payments from D.C. It turns out that farmers did in fact like being free from the dictates of bureaucratic planners. However, they didn't like having to rely on their farms for income. From the taxpayer perspective, it's been a complete bust. Farm subsidies have skyrocketed from $7.3 billion in 1995 to $32.2 billion last year.From the point of view of individual farmers, the welfare explosion has been great. For instance, between 1996 and 1999, federal payments to Texas farmer Lanny Bezner jumped from $164,621 to $741,839, for a total take of $1.38 million. "We're successful primarily because of government help," Bezner, who's been expanding his operations, told the Times. He's not alone: The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts farm income--including government payouts--will reach a record $61 billion this year.As ridiculous as current farm policy is, some in Washington want to make it even worse. These advocates would transform the farm program into a conservation program. The new plan would expand programs that pay farmers to let their land retu...
