Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On May 14, by a broad, bipartisan vote of 318-106, the House sent the farm bill conference report to the president for his signature. The Senate approved the report May 15.

H.R. 2419, The Food, Conservation and Energy Act, more commonly referred to as the farm bill, plays an instrumental role in shaping agriculture policy and practice - and is the most important single piece of legislation affecting South Dakota producers, families and businesses. Although the president has signaled that he will veto the bill, this vote demonstrates that there are sufficient votes to override a potential veto and the bill is one step closer to becoming law.

“The process of drafting the new farm bill probably has taken more time than anyone anticipated. But good policy and good legislation takes time, and with this farm bill, it is certainly worth the effort because we know the policy implications are so critical to our entire state's economy. This final version of the farm bill makes important reforms while at the same time includes a number of wins for our state, including a strong safety net for producers, an agreement for mandatory country-of-origin labeling, permanent disaster assistance and language to prevent the closure of FSA offices,” Herseth Sandlin said. “Although the final bill doesn't include everything that we would like, I believe that the result of this long process ultimately does right by our farm and ranch families and rural communities in South Dakota.”

Here's what others are saying:

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.:

"This final farm bill is not a perfect piece of legislation. However, it does contain some very important provisions that are a solid step in the right direction for our rural communities. With skyrocketing input costs and uncertainty in the commodities market, an effective safety net is crucial to ensure our national food security. This farm bill continues the 2002 commodities program, in addition to providing a structured response to agriculture disaster. Further, nutrition programs were made more accessible in this farm bill along with some long overdue changes.

"...This most recent farm bill rewrite contains expanded acreage for several important conservation programs, including, for example, the Grassland Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program. Conservation measures are a critically important component of federal farm policy, impacting our economy and environment. However, this administration's objections to funding this farm bill in a fiscally responsible way made it increasingly difficult to put more money behind these crucial programs. I support a national, comprehensive Sodsaver program, and while it was not contained in this farm bill. I will continue to fight for this program."

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer:

"For over a year, Congress has had the opportunity to work with the administration to craft a farm bill that delivers reform to outdated, costly farm programs while strengthening the safety net and adhering to fiscal discipline in a time of nationwide economic challenge. Instead, Congress chose a different path, and today they passed a bloated, earmark laden bill that spends nearly $20 billion over its original cost and continues to balance subsidy payments to the wealthy on the backs of the middle class taxpayer.

"The bill passed today is a farm bill in name only. It does not target help for the farmers who really need it, and it increases the size and cost of government while jeopardizing the future of legitimate farm programs by damaging the credibility of farm bills in general. At a time of record setting income for farmers, it sends the wrong message to the rest of the country who are not experiencing the boom of the agriculture sector. This bill is loaded with taxpayer funded pet projects at a time when Americans are struggling to buy groceries and afford gas to get to work.

"Eight months behind schedule, Congress will send a bill to the president that is trade distorting and fails to provide meaningful reform to the adjusted gross income limit, beneficial interest or the international food aid program. However it is better late than never for the beneficiaries of the massive earmarks in this bill, like the $170 million for the salmon fishermen on the West Coast, or $500 million for a single entity land buy in Montana, just to name a few.

"Reckless spending like this is not what farm bills should be about. Congress had a real chance to implement reform and strengthen farm programs for the next decade. This reform could have allowed for savings to be reinvested in future agriculture needs, such as energy and research. Instead, they decided to spend billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars to grow government and invest in the tired status quo.

"The president will veto this bill, and I encourage members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to support his stand for fiscal discipline and the best interests of America's farmers and ranchers."

The final conference report agreed to today makes critical reforms of key farm programs while still maintaining a solid safety net for our producers by providing for:

Increased target prices for wheat, sorghum, barley, oats, and soybeans and rebalanced loan rates on wheat, barley, oats, oilseeds and honey, enhancing the basic safety net for these commodities

Permanent Disaster Assistance

The establishment of a 30-day rolling average as the basis for calculating repayment rates for marketing loans while still allowing producers to retain beneficial interest in their commodities at the time they receive a Loan Deficiency Payment under the marketing loan program

A hard cap on average adjusted gross income (AGI) for farmers for eligibility to receive farm program payments of $500,000 for non-farm income, a substantial reduction from the former eligibility limit of $2.5 million, and $750,000 for farm income for which there was no previous eligibility limit. There is also a ban on conservation payments to people with adjusted gross incomes of $1 million per year unless two thirds of that money comes from agriculture or forestry, then no limit.

The elimination of the three-entity rule that has allowed individual producers to collect as much as double the current limit on farm program payments, and requires direct attribution of farm program payments to the individuals who receive them - a key transparency measure. Both of these reforms will crack down on those who try to game and abuse the system.

In addition to maintaining a safety net for producers, the farm bill includes provisions to encourage the development of renewable sources of energy within the energy title including:

The creation of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program to develop the next generation of feedstocks for renewable energy;

Loan guarantees for biorefineries producing advanced biofuels;

The creation of the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to provide grants and loan guarantees for agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements;

The establishment of Forest Biomass for Energy, a program authorizing funding for research and development supporting the use of woody biomass for energy, including feedstocks such as byproducts of forest health treatments and hazardous fuels reduction;

For the first time, the farm bill includes a dedicated livestock title including an agreement for implementing mandatory COOL and interstate shipment of beef. Additionally, 70 percent of the bill's spending will go toward domestic and international food assistance, a critical necessity as we see food prices rising around the world. Finally, the agreement increases money for conservation programs, including a Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Grasslands Reserve and Wetlands Reserve.

Comments »

Aida Medina wrote on May 18, 2008 1:52 PM:

" I always wonder why these Congresmen had to add all kinds of earmarks for their pet projects. It's time to stop paying their special interest groups and the bureaucrats for their campaign favor to elect them to the powerfurl seat in Congress. We the people are really in a bad situation with all the sky rocketing prices and no place to get a job to take care of our families.
It's time to STOP Earmarks and have a plain legislation bill. "

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