U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson says he and a bipartisan group of senators will seek to cap federal farm payments to large farming operations.

Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, said Wednesday that the group plans to introduce a measure to limit payments to so-called mega-farms.

Nelson says that with farm income booming and the national deficit soaring, "the time has come to rein in these payments."

Nelson, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is sponsoring the proposal with Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin, of Iowa; Tim Johnson, of South Dakota; Sherrod Brown, of Ohio; and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; and Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, and Mike Enzi, of Wyoming.

Nelson says he hopes the measure will be included in the federal farm bill being crafted by Congress.