"Subsidies basically go to white farmers."That's the view of Mississippi farmer Roger Morris, a black farmer who grows sweet potatoes, soybeans and vegetables. Morris is profiled in the latest installment of the Washington Post's harvesting cash series

That's also the view of USDA's census, which reports that roughly 10 percent of black and Latino farmers grow the crops that are eligible for subsidies. What's more, most of those minority farmers lucky enough to grow subsidized crops collect less than $200 a month.

There was a time when many black farmers grew crops like cotton and corn that are eligible for subsidies.

But, too often, black farmers wererdenied the loans and other subsidies provided by USDA to their white neighbors. As a result, the number of black farmers has plumetted to less than 20,000.

A few years ago, USDA owned up to the agency's past and agreed to pay black farmers as part of a consent decree. To read a summary, check out reports by CRS and EWG.

Unfortunately, "direct" subsidy payments — which are linked to a producer's production history rather than current market conditions — reinforce this legacy by linking payments to the past. Extending the current farm bill — as the House Agriculture Committee is poised to do — would provide $26 billion in direct payments to larger land owners and operators, further driving up the cost of renting land and making it harder for small farmers to survive.

While some large farmers annually collect more than $50,00 in direct payments, most collect less than $1,000 a year.

Now is the time to restructure our farm safety net to help all farmers. In particular, Congress should reduce and restructure our direct payments to help more farmers weather the ups and downs of agriculture, make investments, and plan for the future.

Proposals to make a transition to risk management coulds would be an important step in the right direction. Under one proposal, farmers could use the accounts to cover the "shallow losses" that are not covered by a farmer's crop or revenue insurance policy.

By reducing the cost of the current safety net, such proposals would also provide new resources to invest to rural development initiatives that create new markets for black and Latino farmers and create new jobs in rural counties. New resources could also be used to increase energy and environment programs, which flow to all farmers and ranchers.

In general, Congress needs to ensure that farmers have access to all USDA programs.

Latino farmers and ranchers are the fasting growing sector in agriculture — because they are taking their cues from the market place, not from the government. To learn more about the success of Latino farmers, visit WCVI's website.

The next Farm Bill should help all farmers — regardless of what they grow or where they live.