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USDA's Section 1614 database is coming soon to a newspaper near you.

Farmers are used to their program payment info showing up in the paper, but this database will be different; it totals up payments from every farming entity and ascribes that figure to individual farmers.

This will make for some big numbers -- and it will make for some equally big media coverage.

What do you do when a reporter calls to tell you your numbers are going to be on the front page? The understandable tactic is to just not talk to the reporter. But like it or not, this story is going to be told. The only question is do we let the farm payment critics tell the whole story or do we put in our two cents’ worth?

If you happen to be one of the brave souls willing to talk about farm payments, you can request OFBF’s package of talking points and background information. E-mail jcornely@ofbf.org.

Here are a few of the concepts you can put into your own words and use to help reporters and the public understand this very complicated and important subject.

• Farm programs work: The result of decades of farm support payments is a food supply that is bountiful, affordable, safe and produced right here in the good old USA.

• Farm supports are not handouts; they're payment for services rendered: Public policy dictates that we protect our air, water and soil. Farm payments represent the public's share of the costs of carrying out that policy.

• Food security and safety: We can see right now the results of relying on foreign suppliers of oil. Do we want to be dependent on foreign food suppliers as well? Domestic foods are produced under much more stringent safety regulations.

• Farm programs help the economy. It’s wrong to equate farm payments with farm profit -- they're part of the cash flow that pays wages and taxes and gets spent in the local economy.

• It's a drop in the bucket: Farm payments are less than 20 percent of the total farm bill, and the total farm bill – including its 80 percent that goes to feeding programs and other non-support programs – takes less than 1 cent out of every tax dollar.

• Be open to alternatives: Don’t be afraid to recognize there could be better ways to attain all of the above benefits. However, until and unless someone comes up with a better plan, the current system is a proven, effective, affordable partnership between farmers and consumers.

Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer need to understand that they are not being harmed by our nation's farm support system. Your message isn’t "why I need farm subsidies;" the message is "how the public benefits from farm price supports." Above all, be open and honest. If you speak from the heart, you'll have a receptive audience.