It was just part of a single sentence in President Barack Obama's Tuesday night speech to Congress, but it got the attention of South Dakota's congressional delegation and state farm groups.

Obama said his first budget would "end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them." He didn't offer any details, which led to immediate speculation about how far the president would go, and how it would affect farming in the United States.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., took note of the line, as did Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, who was sitting next to her.

"Earl Blumenauer actually leaned over to me and asked, 'What do you think he means with that line?'" Herseth Sandlin said Wednesday.

It's a good question that has farm leaders wondering as well. Mike Held, the administrative director of the South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation in Huron, worries that traditional farming operations which have grown and incorporated might get hit by the effort to take money away from large agricultural businesses.

"I would describe it as worrisome," Held said of Obama's comment. "The overwhelming majority of farms are family farms. Some of those families choose to incorporate for succession purposes, for business purposes, and end up being targeted when people have this discussion."

The South Dakota Farmers Union had a different take. Farmers Union President Doug Sombke of Conde said it's time for real reform in the distribution of farm support. Obama is positioned to make real change, Sombke said.

"You look at the likes of Cargill and ADM (Archer, Daniels, Midland Co.), and see them when they're making record profits and still getting subsidies, something's got to change," he said. "I think the Obama administration will have more focus on this sort of change than any administration for a long time."

Focus isn't the same as managing meaningful changes in federal policy, however, especially where federal money is involved. The South Dakota delegation has worked to direct farm support money away from large agriculture corporations and toward family farms, with limited success.

Like Herseth Sandlin, Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Republican Sen. John Thune said they welcome the president to the continuing fight to more fairly target farm payments. One key challenge will be getting around the strong support for large-scale agriculture businesses from congressional delegations in Southern states, they said.

"It won't be easy," Johnson said. "But I think that under the present financial circumstances and the new party alignments that he has a shot. And I intend to support it."

The battle over subsidies for large-scale corporate farming operations tends to break more on geographic than political lines, which adds unusual dynamics to the fight for change.

"It's more regional than partisan," Johnson said, adding that Obama would likely get solid support from delegations from Northern Plains states, including a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Johnson also expects the battle will be more difficult in the U.S. House, where the numbers align better in support of large subsidies for rice and cotton operations.

"There is more support for the big farmers in the House than in the Senate," he said.

Herseth Sandlin said she expects Obama to focus the immediate work on realigning the farm-payment structure through the implementation of rules, rather than some sort of legislation or attempt to reopen the multi-year federal farm bill approved in 2008.

The trick is to provide assistance to deserving operations while ending federal payments to agriculture corporations that take advantage of loopholes to receive support they aren't really entitled to, Herseth Sandlin said.

"We cannot allow people to abuse the program," she said. "I think he is saying there are large agriculture businesses out there operating under the cloak of a family farm, some of which should not qualify for these payments because they're essential double dipping."

Thune said that he expects a battle over the issue in the Senate as well.

"But I do think there's an argument to be made there, and we've all made it, that this is something that should be done," Thune said. "However, even though there's a Democrat president, what I've found is that with these farm-bill debates rarely does it break on political lines."

It will be interesting to see if Obama has more influence in pushing reform with Southern Democrats in Congress, Thune said. And while further reform is possible, it's remains a tough sell, he said.

"I will say, based on my experience in the past, that I'll believe it when I see it," he said.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com