AN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A majority of U.S. farmers are in favor of a farm subsidy cap of $250,000 a year and strict rules on payment eligibility, but they are not strong supporters of who could be responsible for making these changes: Barack Obama.
A Reuters survey of 820 of the 5,350 farmers attending the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting found 72 percent of the respondents did not believe the Obama administration would be responsive to their needs.
U.S. farmers, who tend to be social and fiscal conservatives, have traditionally supported Republicans. Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas.
"I don't think he'll be good for the American farmer," said Darrell Uhls, a Kentucky corn and soybean grower, who feared Obama would reduce government payments to farmers. "I hate to see him go in office myself."
Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman said that, while there was uncertainty over Obama's policy on environmental regulation and how it will affect agriculture, the president-elect made several positive comments toward agriculture during the campaign.
"I am not that pessimistic, personally," said Stallman. "I think the concern that farmers have right now is an unknown, and not knowing creates anxiety."
As a candidate, Obama supported further reform in the farm community, including a $250,000-a-year cap on payments and an end to loopholes that allow big farmers to evade payment limits. He will be sworn into office on January 20.
Obama, from the Corn Belt state of Illinois, also backed limiting payments to active farmers and boosting incentives to spur development of biofuels, including ethanol from cellulose.
While most farmers polled expressed doubt that Obama would have their interests in mind as president, 59 percent supported him in implementing a "hard" cap on farm subsidies of $250,000 a year and stricter rules on who is eligible for subsidies.
"The larger or unlimited cap they basically have now encourages megafarmers. We need to not necessarily have tiny farms but we need family-sized farms that support the local communities," said James Launer, an Illinois farmer.
The backing of Obama's push for a subsidy cap by farmers may be attributed to the fact that many don't feel they would be hurt by it. Only 12 percent of those polled said they would receive less money if the maximum payment was $250,000.
The straw poll did not attempt to weigh responses by state, size of farm or other criteria.
The 2008 farm law set the first-ever income ceiling on access to farm subsidies, beginning in 2009. Operators with more than $500,000 in adjusted gross income from off-farm sources are ineligible for crop subsidies. People with more than $750,000 income from farming cannot receive direct payments but can get price support and counter-cyclical payments.
Reformers pushed for a subsidy cap but were opposed by Southern senators, who said it would unfairly hurt rice and cotton growers. Rice and cotton have the highest support rates, but also the highest costs of production.
A congressional report recently found farm subsidies were being paid to rich farmers despite caps designed to restrict their participation. Obama recently cited the report as an example of the wasteful spending that should be eliminated.
About 40 percent of U.S. farms collect subsidy payments, which were estimated at $6 billion in 2008.
(Editing by Russell Blinch and Walter Bagley)
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