Farm Bill Reaction
Posted: October 26, 2007
Despite initial diplomatic words of praise, Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner does not seem to be very pleased overall with the Farm Bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee this week.
“I have to note the provisions that raise loan rates and target prices for half a dozen crops,” Conner said in a telephone press conference on Thursday afternoon. “This is just simply bad policy. It paints a bull’s-eye on the backs of the American farmer, causes us enormous trouble internationally. It’s just simply bad farm policy. No reform at all.”
Conner also has major problems with the lack of change in payment limitations. “I will just tell you simply that the administration and I do not understand the unwillingness to take wealthy investors who are simply among the wealthiest of Americans, the top 2 percent of tax-filers in all of our country, off of direct government subsidies. We just simply can’t understand that unwillingness.”
“There’s not enough reform in this, not enough in terms of the AGI limits, not enough in terms of loan rates and target prices, a number of areas that are vital to us,” Conner said. “But we are confident that we can work these things out; that we can work with the members of Congress on this. The president is anxious to sign a farm bill this year and I know producers are anxious to have a farm bill as soon as possible so they can know the rules of the game.”
The country’s largest producer organizations also voiced concerns about the Senate farm bill. The National Corn Growers Association was most disappointed by the passage of an amendment offered by Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., which stripped the crop insurance integration from the Average Crop Revenue program.
“NCGA is deeply disappointed with this setback,” said NCGA President Ron Litterer. “The amendment makes the revenue proposal a much less attractive option to growers.”
Can we do better? We’ll see, since the bill is far from its final form. It must still be passed by the full Senate and then go to conference, but it is unlikely that we will see any real major reforms. No bill will make everyone happy, but there is definite reluctance on the part of Congress to make any sweeping reforms that might make the U.S. less vulnerable to challenges from world trading partners, institute more fairness among commodities, or to prevent wealthy investors in farmland from reaping subsidy benefits.