New 'Seeking Balance' statement lists priorities for next farm bill

Published: 2007-01-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The National Catholic Rural Life Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, has joined 350 other organizations in a statement calling for substantial revisions to U.S. agriculture policy in the 2007 farm bill. "We have witnessed the continued loss of farms, farmers and valuable farmland. Unprecedented farm and agribusiness consolidation limits competition and innovation in the marketplace," said the statement, "Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy." "Current farm and food policies have contributed to the overproduction of certain crops, creating artificially low prices that imperil the livelihoods of farmers here and abroad," the statement said. "Moreover, the benefits of farm subsidies flow disproportionately to very large farms and specific regions of the country, neglecting entrepreneurial and diversified farms and regions that raise livestock and grow other types of crops, including fruits and vegetables. As a nation, we can and must do better," the statement said. "These problems and trends are not inevitable, but rather the result of public policy choices."

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