U.S. SENATOR TO PROPOSE 0/92 FOR 1987 CROPS

  Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, R-Minn., said he
  intended to offer legislation that would allow 1987 producers
  of wheat, feedgrains, cotton and rice to receive at least 92
  pct of their deficiency payments, regardless of how much they
  planted.
      Boschwitz told the Senate Agriculture Committee that
  applying the so-called 0/92 provision to 1987 crops was
  supported by the Reagan administration and would save
  approximately 500 mln dlrs, including 266 mln dlrs in corn
  payments, 90 mln dlrs in wheat and 30 mln dlrs in cotton.
      The Minnesota senator said he might offer the bill on the
  Senate floor or in a conference committee with the House of
  Representatives in the event a similar bill before the House
  Agriculture Committee is approved by that body.
      Boschwitz told Reuters that neither he nor the U.S.
  Agriculture Department had decided whether or how deficiency
  payments should be guaranteed to farmers who might choose not
  to plant under the decoupling scheme.
      If payments are not set in advance under decoupling, market
  prices conceivably could rise, thereby leading to diminished
  deficiency payments.
      Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
  said he wanted to go to conference with the House as soon as
  possible on the issue, but would have to study the matter
  further before deciding how he would vote on it.
  

