Obama to Say: Limit ag subsidies

Limited farm subsidies, tougher fines for polluters and restrictions to the size of livestock operations are all part of a rural policy plan that will be unveiled here Tuesday by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Preliminary news releases given to The Des Moines Register by Obama’s Iowa campaign staff did not include a lot of specific details, as far as costs. The farm subsidies would be limited to $250,000.

Such subsidies have come under fire this year when a federal report showed $1.1 billion in farm subsidies were paid to 172,801 dead people by the federal government between 1999 and 2005.

The plan, which also focuses upon investments in bioenergy expansion is a product of dozens of meetings Obama or his staff held across Iowa during the summer.

“In moving forward, we must always stress sustainability and conservation,” Obama is expected to say. Those are “principles that are best understood by Americans who live and work off the land.”