Ever since the Dust Bowl, Americans have provided a safety net for our farmers. But, the creators of the "temporary" progam designed to lift farmers out of the Great Depression could not have imagined Maurice Wilder.

Wilder, a Florida developer, collected about $1.8 million in farm subsidies in 2005, according to the Environmental Working Group.

Wilder is not the only millionaire collecting farm subsidies. Loopholes in existing law allow farmers to easily evade limits on who can collect subsidies and how much they can collect.

A better course might be to gradually replace our outdated subsidies with a system of risk management accounts and revenue insurance tools. The Ruminant hopes House and Senate leaders will ruminate over promising new ideas.

Under a plan developed by Indiana Senator Richard Lugar , farmers would make a transition to a system of farmer-held risk management accounts that would help farmers weather the ups and downs of agriculture, make investments, and plan for the future.

In particular, subsidized crop farmers would be required to put a larger and larger share of their "direct" subsidy payments into risk management accounts. Farmers could contribute some of their own funds, but a match would not be required.

When sales fall below 95% of a farmer's average gross sales, a farmer can withdraw funds to cover the "shallow" losses that are not covered by revenue or crop insurance policies. Farmers could also withdraw funds to purchase crop or revenue insurance or to make investments in rural enterprises.

What's left in the account would serve as a farmer's IRA.

Given agriculture's success — due in no small measure to the growth of ethanol — and the dramatic expansion of crop and revenue insurance coverage, Congress finally has a chance to restructure and reduce the outdated subsidies that help few farmers and regions.

There's never been a better time to reform farm subsidies.

In 2007, farm income is expected to be $66.6 billion, up $8.8 billion from 2006 and $9 billion higher than the ten-year average. Average farm household income is nearly twice the amount of ordinary households and large commercial farms — the farms that collect the lion's share of farm subsidies — will enjoy household income greater than $270,000 this year.