So is it the end of agricultural subsidies?

Not really. But at least Obama wants to start. Here's the relevant portion from his budget summary:

As part of an effort to transition large farms from direct payments provided to owners of base acres to increased income from revenue derived from emerging markets for environmental services, the President's Budget phases out direct payments over three years to farmers with sales revenue of more than $500,000 annually. Presently, direct payments are made to even large producers regardless of crop prices, losses, or whether the land is still under production. The program was introduced in the 1996 Farm Bill as a temporary payment scheduled to expire, but was included in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. The President wants to maintain a strong safety net for farm families and beginning farmers while encouraging fiscal responsibility.

A couple points about this:



1. What's with the $500,000 cut off? This is also the level at which the administration set its salary cap for bailout recipients. Does a psychological switch flip in Peter Orzsag's head when we pass half a million dollars, or does this happen to be the level at which perfectly efficient policy is crafted? (I can guess.)

2. I don't understand the connection between reducing direct payments to farmers with large revenues and reducing direct payments to farmers who don't farm (ie, who have land that is no longer "under production"). The above paragraph implies that Obama wants to reduce subsidies for both groups of people, but it seems like farmers who large portions of unused land would have less revenue as a result.

3. George Bush tried similar subsidy reductions and got outmanuevered by Southern lawmakers every time.