U.S. HOUSE TARGETING PROPOSAL SPARKS INTEREST A proposal by two U.S. House Democrats to target government farm benefits to small- and medium-sized farms was warmly received by Democrats on a House subcommittee today. "On balance, this is the best new idea I have seen," said Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Wheat, Feedgrains and Soybeans. "This is the first hard constructive proposal coming out as an alternative to the (Reagan) administration's farm proposal." The plan, offered by Reps. Tim Penny (D-Minn.) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), would raise target prices for wheat to 5.00 dlrs per bushel and for corn to 3.50 dlrs. Producers could receive deficiency payments on up to 80 pct of normal yield but not more than on 30,000 bu of corn and 20,000 bu of wheat. The proposal also would require acreage reductions of 20 pct, eliminate generic certificates and prohibit persons not actively engaged in farming from receiving program benefits. Dorgan said the bill would save 24 billion dlrs over five years, protect family farms and eliminate government accumulation of stocks because nonrecourse loans would be halted. However, Rep. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said the measure would "involve the federal government in deciding and defining who a family farmer is." Roberts said the bill, for example, would restrict program payments to 500 acres of wheat production in western Kansas. Other Republicans on the panel questioned how the bill would determine if a person was actively engaged in farming and therefore eligible for payments.