Senator sees no support for farm subsidy cuts

Congress does not want to make further cuts in U.S. farm subsidies despite a veto threat from President George W. Bush, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Thursday.

"I don't have the votes for it," said Chairman Tom Harkin, who is in charge of House-Senate negotiations over the final version of the five-year, $286 billion farm bill.

The White House wants to end crop subsidies to farmers and landowners with an adjusted gross income above $200,000 a year. The cut-off now is $2.5 million except for people who get at least 75 percent of their income from farming.

Lawmakers have voted for farm subsidy reforms but not the $200,000 AGI cap. The House farm bill proposes a $500,000 AGI limit for part-time farmers and a "hard" cap of $1 million AGI for full-time farmers. The Senate would set a $750,000 "soft" cap with no limit if two-thirds of income is from agriculture.

During a telephone news conference, Harkin said, "I assume we'll strike some kind of a median in between" the House and Senate bills. But there is no support for a new round of cuts, said the Iowa Democrat.