The FY 2012 Budget Resolution unveiled by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis) includes reforming current farm programs.

The Republican budget plan would cut farm program spending by $30 billion over the next decade to “reflect the economic reality of record-high farm income by restructuring farm programs, saving taxpayers money and increasing farmer independence.”

Net farm income this year is forecast to be the second-highest recorded in the past 35 years. Production costs have risen, but income has risen faster as prices for major commodities such as corn and soybeans have outstripped even the rising cost of energy. The top five earnings years for farmers in the last 35 years have occurred in the last decade.Yet, at the same time, numerous overlapping government programs exist to provide income support to farmers.

With crop prices – and deficits – hitting new highs, it is time to adjust support to this industry to reflect economic realities.This budget proposes two major reforms to achieve this: First, reduce the fixed payments that go to farmers irrespective of price levels, to reflect that soaring commodity prices are reducing the need for high levels of farm-income support. Second, reform the open-ended nature of the government’s support for crop insurance, so that agricultural producers assume the same kind of responsibility for managing risk that other businesses do.

Corn growers say they are willing to take a proportionate share of budget cuts to get the deficit under control.

“These cuts are significant, but so is our nation’s out-of-control budget deficit,” said National Corn Growers Association President Bart Schott in a statement. “What is important is that farmers are not singled out — the cuts proposed for agriculture are proportional to those proposed for other areas of the federal budget. We know this is just the beginning of the budget discussion. No matter the outcome, we are committed to working with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to fashion a farm bill that provides farmers with risk management tools that are there when they truly need them.”