Dick Lugar: “I pointed out the concentration of these payments in six States. But within those States, the concentration is fairly…”

“I pointed out the concentration of these payments in six States. But within those States, the concentration is fairly substantial. For instance, in the State of the distinguished leader, 10 percent of the farmers who receive payments receive 55 percent of the money--just 10 percent. In my State of Indiana, the concentration is even greater. The top 10 percent receive 62 percent of the money. Not only is there concentration in a few States, but within States that are major beneficiaries, a concentration exists with a very few farms. This is not the first time that proposition has been brought to the attention of the Senate and, indeed, as we began debate in the Senate Agriculture Committee this year, the distinguished chairman, Senator Harkin, frequently talked about this problem of concentration. In fact, it bobbed up in all sorts of ways: Concentration of meat packers, concentration of supermarket chains, concentrations of authority all the way through the food chain, and, of course, very startlingly with regard to producers themselves.”