The U-S Senate Ag Committee Tuesday passed and sent to the floor a new Farm Bill. The vote was 15-5, with   Nebraska Republican and former Ag Secretary Mike Johanns among the nays.

Johanns expressed concerns with the entire Farm Bill…complaining that it’s market-distorting, has numerous budget gimmicks, and is fundamentally-flawed because it includes target prices.

“It hides $3.1 billion in payments right outside the 10-year budget window,” Johanns said.

“It reminds me of the days back when I was governor of Nebraska and somebody was suggesting, we can balance the budget by just delaying the school aid payment until the next fiscal year.

That didn’t solve any problems, and this doesn’t solve any problems. That’s just no way to deal with budget issues,” he said.

As for target prices, Johanns said “Congress should get out of the business of setting prices, that’s why we have markets. Farmers don’t always get the price they want, and farmers recognize that that’s a part of agriculture.

If we keep telling farmers to plant for prices that are higher than the market or cover the cost of production even, they will simply respond to that. And the end result is, you have planting that is too much and lower prices. That drives prices down, continuing the cycle of low prices and government payments.”

There were a few things in the bill Johanns likes…including the tightest AGI and payment limits that require farmers to be actively engaged in the farming operation, a strong basic crop insurance program, streamlined and simplified conservation programs, funding for basic research, and support for beginning farmers.