It’s dry on the farm and hot on Capitol Hill, and area farmers are hoping both conditions change for the better in the next month.

Douglas County farmers this week said they are receiving a double dose of uncertainty as they prepare to enter into their busy spring and summer seasons.

This winter's shortage of moisture may limit the potential for grass and feed production for farmers in Spring, according to Bill Wood, agricultural extension agent for Douglas County. Wood discussed farmer's concerns on Thursday in Leavenworth county.

One dose comes from Mother Nature in the form of a drier than average winter that is now beginning to create concern among some producers.

The second dose comes from Congress, which is in the middle of a contentious debate about a new farm bill that is designed to give farmers guidance for the next 10 years.

Looking for rain

Bill Wood, agriculture agent for the Douglas County Extension Service, said this winter’s below-average rainfall amounts haven’t created irreparable damage to area crop or pasture lands, but farmers are worried it soon might.

“We need rain, we need rain,” Wood said. “We can’t say that enough right now.”

Wood said parts of the state’s wheat crop probably have been damaged beyond the point of recovery. Douglas County’s main crops, though, are corn and soybeans, which aren’t yet in the ground. But they soon will be, with most corn planting taking place in early April.

“We’re not too far off from planting some corn, and we would like to start off with some moisture in the ground,” Wood said.

“The folks who are putting fence posts in the ground say there’s hardly no moisture at all, so now we’re at the point that it is getting to be a little scary.”

Wood said the area probably needs 4 to 5 inches of rain in the next four to five weeks to significantly improve planting conditions.

“With where we’re sitting at moisture-wise right now, I’d say the next six weeks could be pretty critical in terms of what type of year we’re going to have,” Wood said.

Farmers aren’t hitting the panic button yet.

“An old-timer told me once it takes a long time to get dry, but you can get wet in a hurry,” Pat Ross, a Lawrence farmer, said. “If we have to be dry, we’d much rather see it in the winter than in the spring and summer.”

Playing without a plan

But Mother Nature isn’t the only family member creating uncertainty for farmers this season. Uncle Sam is doing his part too.

The House and Senate agriculture committees are now trying to work out a compromise farm bill.

The farm bill process has been going on for months, and area agriculture producers said time is becoming of the essence.

“There is going to have to be a lot of compromising along the way, but we really need to get to the point of coming up with something so we can have a game plan,” Mark Wulfkuhle, a Douglas County farmer, said.

Wulfkuhle said the absence of a new plan, which likely would set the country’s farm policy for the next 10 years, makes it difficult for farmers to create any realistic expectations for their business.

“We don’t have any game plan of what type of price supports we’re going to have to work with,” Wulfkuhle said. “It is like going into a football game without knowing the rules.”

Major differences

Farmers may have to play without a new rule book for a while though, because many agriculture experts are saying reaching a compromise on the farm bill won’t be easy.

“If I had a crystal ball, I’m not sure I would even bet then when Congress may finish its work on this bill,” said Patty Clark, policy director for the Kansas Farm Bureau. “It is just a totally different approach between the House and the Senate. There are some major differences in philosophy that they are going to have to work out.”

The biggest difference revolves around money and in particular how much money farmers should be allowed to receive in the forms of subsidies and loans.

Brad Lubben, an agricultural economist with the K-State Extension Service, said the maximum amount of money a family farm would be able to receive in government programs would increase under the House’s proposal by about $90,000, but would decrease under the Senate’s plan by about $185,000.

“It seems like it is still a real possibility that the House and Senate can’t come to a compromise,” Lubben said. “If that happens, then we would just keep on using the existing farm bill and probably wait until after the fall elections to write a new farm bill.

“That’s bad from the standpoint that it makes farmers deal with more uncertainty, but it wouldn’t ruin them financially.”

Fighting a perception

Both Wulfkuhle and Ross said they favor the House’s proposal over the Senate’s plan.

Clark said the Kansas Farm Bureau believes the House plan is a better bill.

She said the organization of the Senate plan could be improved. She also said there are parts that are unwise.

For example, she said a provision in the Senate plan that would prohibit farmers from receiving any federal aid if their gross income was above $2.5 million during any of the preceding three tax years.

“I know that sounds like a lot of money, but you have to remember they are talking about income, not profit,” Clark said. “In the cattle business you can pretty easily have $2.5 million in income but not be making a profit.”

Ross said he thinks the Senate bill would hurt large farmers who are getting bigger in an effort to make a living by farming. He also said the Senate may be overreacting to opinions by some outside the agriculture industry that the government subsidies are too generous to too many.

“I wish that the one thing people would understand is that this money isn’t a handout we have been receiving,” Ross said. “I wish all those payments went to profit, but it doesn’t work that way.”

Wulfkuhle agrees.

“We have got to have the help because there is no way we can compete with South America and other parts of the world where land is cheaper and labor is cheaper,” Wulfkuhle said. “To me, the answer is we either quit farming in this country or we help the farmer out.

“It is kind of the same situation we had with the oil industry years ago. It was cheaper to buy it from the Mideast than to help the American oil industry, but now I think a lot of people wish we were still pumping our own oil, because now we’re over a barrel.”