[imgbelt img=009.jpeg]The Ken Root, in the High Plains Journal, asks, “Will the next farm bill cause civil war in rural America?” Root sees a conflict between government programs for job in rural areas and farm programs. The problem, he says, is that money for both come from the same pot. “The first hearings of the 2012 farm legislation were held last week, and as expected, they revealed the Barack Obama administration wishes to take money from farm programs and move it to other priorities,” Root writes.Will the Obama Administration and Congress write a farm bill that will, in the words of one Oklahoma Republican, turn rural America into a giant bedroom community for city workers? “Rural America needs a balance of agricultural and non-agricultural income,” Root writes. “The lifestyle can be exceptional when income opportunity is combined with rural and small-town life. But this world needs to eat, and farmers who produce our food also live and work in these rural areas. Their need for income and quality of life is of great importance for our national security. Balancing the beam will be difficult with Democrats waving jobs on one side and Republicans waving farm payments on the other.”