Farmers Living Hand To Mouth

The drought made it a devastating year for Eddie Boyer's small farm in southern Pennsylvania. Rows and rows of weeds are sprouting where there should be corn, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

Boyer was planning to chop the corn and feed his cows. "Now we have to buy feed all winter to support the cows."

Forget about the cows. Boyer's having trouble feeding his family. Small farmers are being hammered by weather problems and a crop surplus.

The American economy may be booming but farmers are in a depression. And that's despite enormous support from the government.

A hefty 38-percent of farm income now comes from the federal government. Add in emergency funding, and aid to farmers this year may end up the highest on record, topping 20-billion dollars.

Farmers like Boyer complain that most of the federal programs benefit large corporate farms instead of family farms. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman agrees U.S. policy favors the big operations.

"We tend to reward larger producers more than smaller producers," says Glickman. "We tend to reward producers who produce only bulk quantities, as opposed to those who might get involved in processing and marketing their products both at home and overseas as well."

Boyer explains that the small farmers aren't looking for handouts.

"We're looking for somebody to look into why we aren't getting our fair share back from the marketplace," he says.

Senator Larry Craig is a strong supporter of farm aid, but says there's not enough money to keep all of America's family farms afloat.

"There is a legitimate question to be asked. Should the taxpayers of this country subsidize that lifestyle if it cannot compete or it is non-productive? I don't think we have to, nor do I think we should,"says Craig.

Boyer joins other small farmers in a march on Capitol Hill tomorrow--not to push for cash--but to push for policy changes they hope will get to the root of their problems.

Meanwhile Sunday, this year's Farm Aid concert played to a sold out crowd of 23,000 people in Gainesville, Virginia.