Deductibles and personal payment limits confuse many employees.

"But the issues of payment limits and fairness and better conservation programs will not go away."

Stringent payment limits would be a step toward some semblance of sanity.

In a report last year, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said farmers used many "schemes or devices" to circumvent existing payment limits.

Mrs. Lincoln, the daughter of a rice farmer, said some farmers would have difficulty surviving under stringent payment limits.

"We've increased the payment limit to $460,000 a farm," says Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs.

But House members on the conference committee ignored that message today, offering a series of compromises that did not include the reduced payment limits.

But Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Senate majority leader, said that over all, the offer was inadequate on several provisions, including payment limits.

Mizrahi was accused by his rivals of failing to make the Israeli league more competitive with plans such as payment limits.

The system included a payment limit for each check of $999,999.