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GUESTS: Savonala Horne Associate director of agricultural policy and administration for the Land Loss Prevention Project (LLPP), Jim Lyons, Vice President of Policy and Communication with OXFAM America, Martha Noble, a senior policy analyst with the Sustainable Agricultural Coalition

A newly reformed farm bill for 2007 is set to be debated in the House of Representatives this week. Approved unanimously last Thursday by the House Agricultural Committee, the measure includes an elimination of subsidies for rich farmers who earn more than one million dollars in adjusted gross income, but this includes only the richest one tenth of one percent of all farmers. Additionally, multi-billion dollars subsidies would continue to flow to cotton, corn, and a handful of other crops. Also included in the reformed bill is the closing of a loophole that previously allowed farmers to double collect on federal payments. But many farmers and their advocates feel that this measure approved by the House panel still falls short of delivering necessary changes, and in fact, takes several steps backward. Farmers of color take particular issue with existing commodity programs which benefit large, mostly white-owned farms that grow crops like corn, rice and wheat. Last Thursday, a delegation of American farmers, Oxfam, and the Farm and Food Policy Diversity Initiative traveled to Congress to call for equitable farm bill reforms on behalf of farmers of color. Additionally, farmers of color are also calling for improved delivery of USDA programs to help overcome a legacy of discrimination. According to a new report release by Oxfam, African American farm ownership has declined by 97 percent. Oxfam advocates the Kind-Flake alternative farm bill proposal.

For more information, visit www.oxfamamerica.org, www.msawg.org, www.ruralco.org, and www.landloss.org.