WASHINGTON, D.C. — A farm bill proposal by two Indiana legislators that would cut $40 billion during 10 years from the USDA has received kudos and criticism from those in agriculture and related industries.

The plan from U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, both Republicans, would cut $16 billion (24.5 percent reduction) from farm programs, and $11.3 billion (17.6 percent reduction) from conservation programs. Nutrition programs would be cut $13.9 billion (2 percent reduction) by closing eligibility loopholes.

The Rural Econo-mic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger Act (REFRESH) was announced Oct. 5. “The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Congress’ “Super Committee”) was created to find $1.5 trillion in savings and everyone agrees some of those savings will come from agriculture,” said Megan Provost, Lugar’s legislative assistant. “This proposal was designed to stimulate discussion and debate within the (House and Senate) agriculture committees that will be making recommendations to the full committee.”

Lugar is a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Stutzman, who represents Indiana’s 3rd District, serves on the House Committee on Agriculture.

The bill would eliminate direct and countercyclical payments, the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program and market assistance/loan deficiency payments. It would set up an Aggregate Risk and Revenue Management (ARRM) program that would allow producers to protect between 90 percent and 75 percent of their expected crop revenue.

“Crop insurance is the senator’s main concern,” Provost noted. “This bill protects crop insurance and in some cases, expands it. The bill also seeks to educate producers about crop insurance and the options they have.”

REFRESH includes long-needed reform, Lugar noted. “This bill provides good farm and nutrition policy and saves $40 billion,” he said in a statement. “Farm bill politics has long frustrated reform efforts by myself and others. The current urgency to meet our deficit reduction targets gives us the chance to make smart changes.

“We offer our bill as a thoughtful option for consideration by the House and Senate agriculture committees, as well as the Congressional Deficit Reduction ‘super’ committee charged with making real federal spending cuts by the end of the year.”

The agriculture industry is willing to make sacrifices to help lower the nation’s deficit, Stutzman stated.

“Farmers recognize the need to tackle our nation’s crippling $14.7 trillion debt. So, our bill saves taxpayers $40 billion,” he said in a statement. “Long before I came to Washington, I’ve opposed the direct payments that handcuff farmers and manipulate markets.

“After talking with Hoosier farmers, we’ve proposed genuine safety nets – options that give confidence and expand opportunities for farmers, not outdated systems that restrict their options.”

The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Indiana Corn Growers Assoc. support the proposal, the organizations said in a statement.

“It is vital for Hoosier farmers to have a program to assist them in dealing with the smaller losses that crop insurance does not cover,” noted Mike Beard, ISA policy chairman. “This enables farmers to continue to improve their efficiency and invest in practices that protect the environment by not incurring losses from year to year.”

REFRESH has received a mixed review from the American Farmland Trust (AFT), which calls it good for the agricultural safety net but bad for conservation programs. ARRM would provide a viable safety net for commodity producers that is fiscally responsible, reflects modern agriculture and takes risk management programs in the direction they need to go, AFT said in a statement.

The plan’s conservation proposals are much less heartening, AFT noted, adding the bill institutes a radical and unwise conglomeration of the existing conservation easement programs that eliminates many of the positive elements that have been painstakingly developed over several decades.

“While we acknowledge that fiscal restraint is in order during these tough budget times, this level of cuts ignores the fundamental production challenges we face in feeding the projected nine billion people, and the related conservation obligations our nation must address,” explained Jon Scholl, AFT president.

“U.S. farmers manage nearly half the land in this country. As the world population and market pressures mount, farmers will be motivated to intensify production on a decreasing land base. Conservation programs can help ensure that increased production does not lead to negative environmental consequences, or the degradation of the agricultural land base.”