WASHINGTON (AP)--Farmers in Texas and Iowa, whose lawmakers were the lead negotiators on the new farm bill, rank as the biggest winners under the new legislation, according to an independent analysis. Iowa, home of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, would receive the most money overall under the new bill, $1.7 billion. That will be an increase of $549 million over what the state would receive under the expiring 1996 Freedom to Farm law. But Texas, home state of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest, would receive the biggest increase of any state at $582 million. Texas would receive $1.15 billion this year under the new bill, more than double the $570 million that the state was estimated to get under the 1996 law, the analysis showed. Illinois would get the second biggest increase at $555 million. The totals include only those subsidies that go to the major row crops that the government subsidizes: primarily grain, cotton and soybeans. The analysis released Monday by the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, which advises Congress on the economic impact of farm policy. Nationwide, farmers would receive $16.5 billion in subsidies this year under the new farm bill, 67% more than they would receive under the 1996 law. The bill's impact on individual states depends on the type of crops they grow, said Robert Young, co-director of the institute. "All states end up with a noticeable increase," he said. The bill was passed by the House 280-141 last Thursday and is expected to win final approval in the Senate this week before being sent to President Bush for his signature. The bill raises price guarantees, known as loan rates for corn, wheat and other grains and also creates a new subsidy program to provide supplemental payments when commodity prices fall below certain levels, or target prices. Cotton and soybeans also would be eligible for those payments. The new target-price program is designed to replace a series of annual bailouts that Congress has provided to farmers each year, starting in 1998, to supplement the subsidies provided by the 1996 farm law. Some of the crops with the largest increases in loan rates, including wheat and sorghum, are major crops in Texas, which is home not only to the Republican Combest, but also to the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Charles Stenholm. Illinois would receive the second highest amount of subsidies after Iowa at $1.6 billion, followed by Minnesota ($1.16 billion), Texas, Nebraska ($1.12 billion) and Kansas ($1.04 billion). The legislation also creates new subsidies for commodities such as milk, peanuts, lentils, wool and honey. Those subsidies were not included in FAPRI's state-by-state estimates. The totals also do not include the payments that farmers receive under a variety of land-conservation programs. "This analysis verifies that this new farm bill will benefit farmers across the country by providing increased income assistance and a reliable farm safety net," said Harkin, D-Iowa. "It also shows that all regions of the country benefit from the new farm bill, which is a testament to balanced and fair approach we took." The economists estimate that there is a 19% chance this year that federal crop subsidies will exceed the $19.1 billion limit that U.S. farmers are allowed under the World Trade Organization.:
