With continuing negotiations for a new farm bill in Congress, the fate of farmers and low income families are in the hands of legislators.

The farm bill is a spending bill that determines funding for many programs, such as food stamps and crop insurance, that have been provided to farmers since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

The progress of the new farm bill has already been slowed down due to many missed deadlines, which Congress continues to extend.

As food prices continue to rise, many hope the farm bill will provide some fixes.

Rodney Weinzierl, executive director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, said he expects the big increase in welfare to stay the same, which has consumers at a disadvantage in the long run.

The DeKalb County Farm Bureau believes the best way to fix those problems is by supporting alternative fuel sources.

“We feel we need to continue to look for alternative fuel,” said Greg Millburg, manager at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. “Any renewable energy really are important.”

Without a drop in production prices, which are largely affected by fuel prices, American consumers will not see a drop in food prices.

DeKalb County farmer Paul Taylor also believes the farm bill should support bioenergy such as ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable resources.

“The demand [for alternative fuels] has really grown with two to five years,” Taylor said. “Biofuel is important to agriculture; we think it’s also important to the American consumer.”

Taylor said research will allow the U.S. to come to an equilibrium with the food issue.

Despite all the promising benefits, Weinzierl said the energy title in the farm bill is not growing much and is receiving less money than in past years.

The new farm bill looks to fix the short-term problems, not the long-term problems, Weinzierl said.

Farmers whose crops are destroyed by severe weather are also provided a safety net in the farm bill that gives them enough money to continue farming.

Taylor said the current farm bill’s safety net has Midwest farmers at a disadvantage.

“More marginal states get a disproportional amount of money,” Taylor said.

Millburg recalled the Midwest drought of 2005.

“[The farm bill] didn’t assist farmers with high prices at times of low production,” Millburg said.

Both Taylor and the Illinois Corn Growers Association believe the new farm bill should include a revenue-based safety net that will provide more proportional funding.

“The safety nets, in essence, are totally irrelevant in today’s economic development,” Taylor said.

The amount of money per bushel provided to farmers is less than farmers’ cost for fertilizer, seed, fuel and rent, Taylor said.

With the current farm bill paying a set amount to farmers regardless of the market price, Taylor said dollar amount inflation has made the bill pointless.

“The farm bills ought to look into the future,” Weinzierl said. “A lot of legislators typically look backwards.”