Forty-three organizations, among them the nation’s largest farm associations, crop insurance providers, and agricultural lenders, petitioned the House Appropriations Committee in a letter last Thursday to keep funding intact in drafting the fiscal year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations measure.

Existing farm law, their letter states, represents a delicate balance of resources. The organizations urged the Budget Committee earlier this year not to modify that structure...

But the new technologies that improved efficiency and boosted yields came with a hefty price tag. The cost of farming skyrocketed during the decade, and the low profit margins that have long haunted the profession got even thinner.

Among the group was Linda Raun, a rice farmer from the Gulf Coast of Texas whose very own rice was sitting right under her nose. Though miles away from her farm, Raun discovered that her product was sold right around the corner at a Whole Foods grocery store in New York City's Union Square. Raun had made the long trip to New York, and so, it seems, had her rice.

"I know that our rice is distributed nationally, but it's still neat to come to a city like New York and see the fruits of your labor," said Raun. "When I'm out on the farm and there's not another person in sight, it's easy to forget that our rice will ultimately end up on grocery store shelves."