2008 farm bill all but wrapped-up
Friday, May 2, 2008, 6:45 AM
by Peter Shinn
Congress finally made a lot of progress on the next farm bill after a six-hour meeting Thursday night that stretched into Friday morning. There are now just nine farm bill policy issues that are unresolved and congressional staffers are expected to work those out over the weekend.
Highlights of the bill include a big increase in nutrition and food aid spending. More than two-thirds of the roughly $290 billion the farm bill will spend over the next five years will go to feed America's school children and the needy.
The new farm bill does have some new safety net provisions for ag producers, including a $3.7 billion permanent ag disaster aid program, an optional revenue-based counter-cyclical pilot program beginning in 2010 and an increase in target rates and loan rates for various commodities.
The new farm bill does cut direct payments to farmers by around $313 million over the life of the legislation, despite two separate attempts by Texas GOP Representative Randy Neugebauer and Kansas GOP Congressman Jerry Moran to restore that funding. And House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, using characteristically blunt language, said those who see direct payments as the best safety net for farmers have definitely got it all wrong.
"It is a damn poor, stupid safety net, OK?" Peterson said. "The idea that a 2% cut for three years is going to make any difference is ludicrous."
The new farm bill will also not include a packer ban on owning livestock more than 10 days before slaughter after an amendment to that effect by Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley failed. Grassley said the defeat of his amendment spelled the end of family-owned livestock production in the U.S.
"Further control over packer ownership of cattle and hogs will ultimately be the demise of independent producers," Grassley predicted.
The Senate also turned back an effort by the House to ban privatizing food stamp delivery by states, a provision that would have put Indiana in a real bind, since the Republican governor of that state, Mitch Daniels, has already done so. And early this morning, Peterson and Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin agreed the 2008 farm bill is essentially complete.
"We are basically done," Harkin said.
"Yeah, I agree," Peterson interrupted.
"But for some scoring," Harkin continued, "and a couple of these issues."
"These issues" include final figures on adjusted gross income limits for farm program payments and final policy on beneficial interest for marketing loans. Washington sources suggest Congress will move closer to the Bush administration’s positions on both those issues. But it’s still not clear whether that will be enough to get President Bush to sign the bill.
In a statement released after 11 p.m. Eastern time Thursday night, Deputy U.S. Ag Secretary issued a statement urging Congress to reduce the overall size of the bill and to include further "reforms" in the measure.
""The president wants to sign a farm bill that meets his criteria," said Conner in the statement.”If sent to him without meeting his criteria, he would be forced to veto the bill."
The NAFB News Service contributed material used in this report.