AMERICAN FARM BUREAU OPPOSES FARM BILL CHANGES

  The directors of the American Farm
  Bureau, the nation's largest farm organization, voted Tuesday
  to urge Congress to leave the 1985 farm bill in place without
  alterations.
      "We are solidly opposed to opening up the 1985 farm bill,"
  said Dean Kleckner, president. "The current farm bill has been
  in place for just a little over a year and in our judgment
  there is more to be gained at the present time from maintaining
  the legislation.
      "Several independent studies ... indicate the 1985 farm
  bill is better on balance than any of the alternatives being
  advanced," Kleckner said.
      The Farm Bureau also urged Agriculture Secretary Richard
  Lyng to adjust the loan rate for 1987 crop soybeans as much as
  he deems possible under the farm bill to keep soybeans
  competitive in the world market.
      A Farm Bureau proposal suggests that producers should be
  eligible for supplemental payments in the form of PIK
  certificates for the difference between 5.02 dlrs a bushel and
  the new loan rate.
      The organization also urged Lyng to authorize deficiency
  payments to farmers who were unable to plant 1987 winter wheat
  because of adverse weather.
  

