| For the week of August 6, 2007 |
Farm Bill Has Something for Everyone |
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There’s a saying that “you can’t make everyone happy.” But the House of Representatives has come pretty close. It has passed a new farm bill that includes something for nearly everyone, including a healthy dose of reform, and has been applauded by a broad spectrum of agricultural groups.
Whether you’re a farmer of cucumbers or corn, strawberries or soybeans, this farm bill has something to offer. The bill continues direct farm payments that help producers of row crops deal with rising production costs. It continues the counter-cyclical payments that help those same farmers even more when crop prices fall drastically low.
It also adds $1.6 billion over five years for a range of programs that help fruit and vegetable producers improve their competitiveness and productivity, expanding the farm bill’s benefits to virtually every type of farmer there is. That’s why a coalition of more than 120 specialty crop organizations supports the bill.
Whether you’re interested in conserving natural resources or using more of our renewable resources to produce energy, this farm bill has it all. The bill adds $3.8 billion – bringing the total to something like $25 billion – for programs that help farmers conserve soil and water.
Then there’s the growing interest in producing renewable energy from crops, grasses and agricultural wastes. The bill increases funding for renewable energy research and development, construction of bio-refineries, incentives to increase bioenergy production and incentives to use bio-based products. The House farm bill would increase funding for these initiatives by $5.8 billion.
Let’s not forget that the largest slice of the farm bill pie is the 66 percent of funding that goes toward food stamps, WIC vouchers and other nutrition assistance programs for Americans who need help to feed their families. The House farm bill increases funding for those programs by $11.5 billion.
The word “reform” has been thrown around a lot during this year’s farm bill debate. The American Farm Bureau doesn’t support limiting farm payments or farmers’ incomes. But if lowering payment and income limits is your idea of reform, the House-passed farm bill has that too. Farmers who earn more than $1 million per year would not be eligible for farm payments, and those who are eligible could only receive up to $250,000 per year.
Last, but not least, are the benefits to all Americans – rural, urban and suburban. Without the 12 percent of the farm bill that provides farm support payments, much more of our food would come from other countries that do not meet the quality and safety standards we expect in the U.S. Other programs in the bill, from food safety inspection to plant and animal health research to rural development, benefit Americans who may never set foot on a farm.
Soon it will be the Senate’s turn to pass a farm bill. If senators think you can’t make everyone happy, then they should look at the example set by the House farm bill and strike a balance that meets the diverse needs of American agriculture and American consumers.
Lynne Finnerty is the editor of FBNews, a publication of the American Farm Bureau Federation.