"Taxpayers are stretched thin already," Agriculture Secretary Ed Shafer said in a conference call with reporters.
Shafer said the administration is demanding that Congress find an additional $4 billion in budget offsets to pay for new programs in the bill. The legislation covers crop payments, rural housing, price protections for dairy farmers and food stamps, among other provisions.
The new programs include more help and research for specialty crops, increased spending for bioenergy and, in the Senate version, at least, an expanded subsidy to help dairy farmers when milk prices tumble.
But the details of those programs, many of which closely affect New York agriculture, will remain in limbo until the overall spending issue is resolved.
The administration supports some of the increases and opposes others, including the dairy program, but has criticized Congress for paying for them with higher taxes and tax credits. The administration also wants to tighten eligibility for farm payments, although it has given some ground to higher congressional proposals.
"We feel like we've put a lot on the table there, and now it's time for Congress to come together," Shafer said.
He said there is a "huge gulf" between the Senate and House, suggesting the real conflict is on Capitol Hill, and the White House is simply standing by. Another complication is that the farm bill requires work not just by the agriculture committees but by the tax and finance panels that figure out how to pay for programs.
But Shafer also suggested that lawmakers and the White House are closer than some of the tough talk indicates. The $4 billion in question is part of a $10 billion increase in programs, meaning the White House and Congress have agreed on how to pay for $6 billion of it.
Asked about tax credits and other alternatives to pay for programs, Shafer said anything that takes money out of the economy amounts to expanding government, which the administration opposes at a time when farm profits are at an all-time high.
The tax credit idea, which has split leaders on the agriculture and finance committees, was floated as an alternative to direct conservation payments to landowners.
He was open, however, to the idea of cutting off payments to farmers with fewer than 20 acres, although he said that would not save the government much money.
Congress extended farm programs until mid-April to give negotiators more time, and Shafer frowned on the idea of additional or longer extensions.
"We can't just keep signing short-term extension after short-term extension after short-term extension," Shafer said. "That's not responsible government to do that."
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