Unity shouldn’t be hard to achieve in a nation that bills itself the United States of America. But it seems a rare commodity these days. We disagree about our debt, health care, regulations, taxes and a host of other issues. A certain amount of healthy debate is one of the elements that made this country great, but not debate solely for the sake of political maneuvering.

It’s hard to say if this is the most divided our Congress has ever been. Most issues publicly dissolve into name calling and finger pointing. Take last summer’s efforts to raise the debt ceiling. Most Americans watched in astonishment while Congress and the President played a game of political chicken with our nation’s economy. The polarization in D.C. isn’t all about political one-upmanship; there are legitimate ideological differences about the best way to run the country. When the nation’s leaders can’t seem to agree on anything, is there any hope we can construct a solid safety net in the next farm bill?

The atmosphere of discord has leaked into the debate about the 2012 farm bill. Our nation’s debt situation is a part of the discussion in the drafting of any legislation in D.C. right now. There are multiple plans to reduce the national debt. Most include cuts to the farm “safety net.” The President’s most recent proposal includes $33 billion in cuts.

Knowing that cuts are coming has splintered the farm community. Several national commodity groups and farm organizations have released their own plans for the farm bill rewrite. The dairy industry has drafted a bill that includes a new margin insurance program while cattlemen are asking out of the farm bill entirely after what they deemed unfavorable changes to GIPSA in the 2008 bill. The National Farmers Union, National Cotton Council, National Corn Growers Association and others have all signaled they would accept the elimination of direct payments in favor of a pumped up crop-insurance program.

The South’s pervasive irrigation, crop selection and long growing season make the current crop insurance product a poor fit for this region. Direct payments remain the most effective risk-mitigation tool for this part of the country. So agriculture’s own showdown is shaping up. Reason tells you diverse agriculture needs a diverse safety net, but it appears the South’s best part of the net could be cut out.

In past farm bills, farmers have recognized our different needs and molded a bill that lends support all around. This time, D.C.’s dysfunction threatens to divide us, leaving every man/crop/region for itself. A house divided cannot stand. Will the farm bill stand if we narrow it to serve fewer regions and fewer crops? One of Farm Bureau’s strengths is that we unite farmers from across the nation under one policy. We have to bring our unity to the table. This can’t be the South’s farm bill or the Midwest’s, or corn’s or cotton’s. Agriculture desperately needs to show Washington how unity is done.