Small family farmers are being driven out by flat grain prices, kept artificially low in part by government subsidies that encourage overproduction.

I know there are people who have cogent arguments that this farm policy encourages overproduction," Mr. Conrad said today, "but that misses the larger reality.

In her report, released last week, Ms. Veneman said price supports encouraged overproduction, which keeps prices low and pushes up land rents.

Environmental groups argue that these subsidies encourage overproduction of the major crops, which not only keeps prices flat but also pollutes rivers and soil with chemicals.

Any bill that encourages overproduction, as this one does, cannot be an unqualified gain for the environment.

The subsidies encourage overproduction, which depresses prices and leads to a kind of dumping of low-priced grain on the world market.

This system, these nations say, encourages overproduction, and pushes down global commodity prices.

At the time, he said, "these lopsided payments encourage and subsidize overproduction" and would "only widen the disparity gaps between large and small farmers."

The developed world funnels nearly $1 billion a day in subsidies to its farmers; that encourages overproduction, which drives down prices.

The administration has criticized both Senate and House measures, saying many of the price supports under consideration would encourage overproduction, which keeps prices low and pushes up land rents.