EWG is making the case that the fight for a fair, sensible farm bill is not over, just because both the House and Senate leadership chose to cut and run at the behest of the subsidy lobby. We have no intention of giving up on reform. And we're not the only ones arguing the point: virtually every newspaper in the country is telling congressional leaders to press for reform during the House-Senate conference. The Philadelphia Inquirer weighs in today:

When Congress returns to work next month, lawmakers need to improve a farm bill by modernizing the way taxpayers subsidize crops.

The $286 billion farm bill approved by the Senate preserves many outdated rules and overcompensates big corporate farms, not the family farm of lore. Five crops in about 30 congressional districts receive a major chunk of the subsidies. More than half the aid goes to large, commercial agribusinesses.

What began as a Depression-era safety net for the nation's breadbasket has grown into a corporate welfare program for some of the richest agricultural producers. About 10 percent of the nation's farms receive 75 percent of the subsidies. . .

. . .The Senate bill allocates more than $5 billion for "permanent disaster relief." In other words, the checks keep coming no matter what happens.

The House version of the farm bill isn't much better. It provides subsidies for single farmers who earn up to $1 million, or farm couples who make $2 million per year. The Senate bill has no income caps for farmers. The current cutoff is $2.5 million.

That's enough to keep the John Deere and the Mercedes running for another year.