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Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Farm bill will make a huge difference this year

Dave Zweifel  —  6/23/2008 8:39 am

As a young kid on the farm, I remember after one particularly heavy rainfall my grandfather, gazing at the under-water cornfield in our low-lying land, sadly proclaiming in broken Swiss-German:

"Kein korn heuer."

Losely translated it meant, "No corn this year." After all the blood, sweat and tears that went into that cornfield, he was devastated.

That scene of the old man with his hands on his hips all came rushing back to me last week as I drove around the area to look at the high water that has visited southern Wisconsin this late spring. Field after field of recently planted corn was covered with water that was taking its sweet time draining. If it was this bad here, it's hard to imagine what it was like this past week in Iowa, where corn is king.

No crop drowns more quickly than corn. It soon turns yellow and quits growing, even after the water goes away. If it was tall enough before the rains, some of it can be saved for forage. But, nevertheless, those nice golden ears won't mature.

This spring presented double misfortune for our farmers. First, corn planting was later than usual because of abnormally wet fields from the winter's heavy snows. Then, when the torrential rains came recently, the corn was only a few inches high. And now it's too late for the most part to disk up the fields if they ever do dry and plant a new crop.

It's times like these that explain why national farm bills are so important. The money, not to mention the back-breaking work, that goes into planting crops is essentially flushed away. For many, especially the smaller operations, it represents financial ruin without some help.

Farmers don't have the luxury most of us do in our jobs. A few days of too much rain or too many days without rain and all can be lost. Plus, the price for their products is dictated by someone else, typically far-off speculators or middlemen who make sure of their own profits first.

The farm bill passed by Congress this year was met with scorn from editorialists and politicians of all stripes, especially from those who don't understand the trials and tribulations of farming. True, the bill could have been better, putting limits on what big corporate farms could receive in subsidies, for instance.

But this bill is going to mean much for small farmers who once again have been hit by forces beyond their control. Plus, the new law provides more funding for conservation and land stewardship, which may just help mitigate future natural calamities.

Paying subsidies to farmers isn't the outrage that some would tell you it is.

If we can subsidize everything from the trucking industry to the oil giants with tax breaks and sweetheart incentives, we sure should be able to help the very people who work every day to put food on our tables.

Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times.

Dave Zweifel  —  6/23/2008 8:39 am