The End Is Not in Sight

John R. Block’s resignation as secretary of agriculture is understandable. He has presided over the department during the worst farm crisis in half a century, and even with record billions in subsidies and credits he has been unable to reverse the fortunes of the farmers. It has been a period of enormous frustration, and the end is not in sight.

Block has taken some satisfaction from the new farm bill that Congress approved in December. But Congress resisted most of the reforms that he proposed, and the bill is the worse for that. It remains adorned with costly and wasteful programs that promote the special interests of dairies and sugar growers at the cost of consumers, preserving profligate subsidies for major economic interests at a time when those subsidies should be targeted on the full-time family farmer, and it takes only timid steps toward the market price orientation that is essential if American farms are to compete in the world market.

The frustration for farmers and those eager to help them has been compounded by economic factors beyond the control of the farmers themselves, above all the high value of the dollar, that have contributed to declining exports. About 40% of American farm production is intended for overseas sales. The decline in the value of the dollar in recent months will help make those exports once again more competitive. In the meantime, however, other nations have expanded production and are able to undersell Americans on markets where the United States once had a dominant position. There is, furthermore, a world surplus in major grains--a welcome development in terms of meeting the nutrition needs of people, but a challenge to farmers seeking prices that return some profit.

There are two priorities now for Block’s successor. One is to get the farm-credit crisis under control, working to help as many farmers as possible to stay in business as they adjust to the prospect of improving market situations. The other is to use, however feeble they may be, the powers of the new farm bill to help get prices of American products in line with world prices so that they can compete once again.