WASHINGTON (Mar 26, 2009)—The government is on a spending spree, funneling billions to big business and “toxic assets.” Amazingly, one minute expense—America’s farmers—briefly found their way into the cost-cutting crosshairs when President Obama released his budget proposal. The outcry over proposed cuts to the farm safety net was fierce. Powerful lawmakers from both parties and the…
DetailsWASHINGTON (March 23, 2009)—Prompted by President Obama’s proposed budget—which would gut the farm safety net and exclude many full-time farmers from federal assistance—lawmakers and farm groups sent a unified, bipartisan message today to anyone eying farm policy for future budget cuts. 17 Senators, 52 House members, and 40 farm organizations sent separate letters to Congressional…
DetailsBy: National Cotton Council MEMPHIS (February 26, 2009)— The National Cotton Council said today that the proposed program changes included in President Obama’s FY10 budget for USDA fail to recognize the work recently completed by Congress on the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The NCC emphasized that after a lengthy and arduous debate,…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb 27, 2009)—While big businesses ranging from insurance giants to banks, car companies, investment houses, and construction firms are raking in hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars, the men and women who feed and clothe the country received some unwelcome news yesterday from President Barack Obama. In the President’s proposed budget, farmers with more…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb 23, 2009)—Open any major newspaper in the country and you’ll find countless stories of economic distress. Companies are shedding jobs, house foreclosures are on the rise, and the Dow plunges to new lows almost every day. But there’s one story that’s hardly been told—a story that has a direct impact on the breakfast…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb 18, 2009)—Although farm families across the country were put on notice last summer that strict new payment limitation rules were coming down the pike for the 2009 crop year, nobody could have anticipated the drastic changes that materialized nearly a half a year later, leaving farm families scrambling to understand and comply with…
DetailsThe name “farm bill” can be pretty misleading. Most who do not follow agricultural legislation that closely just assume that all of the funding included in the “farm bill” winds up on the farm. Not even close. Farm programs only represent about 10% of farm bill spending. The bulk of farm bill spending is earmarked…
DetailsBy: Doug Albin When most people think about challenges farmers face, weather and crop prices likely come to mind. But these days, the uninformed public perception of agriculture worries farmers almost as much as market uncertainty. That’s not just an observation—it’s what 800 Minnesota corn producers told us in a recent survey. Nearly half of…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Jan 13, 2009)—The Riverwalk was hopping as farmers from across the country descended on San Antonio for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual convention this weekend. The city’s convention center looked like most farm shows. John Deere and Case IH rolled in the big green and red tractors, U.S. automakers showed off the…
DetailsBy: Reece Langley VP, Government Affairs, USA Rice Federation Imagine a youthful Democrat with rock-star qualities overcoming the odds to capture his party’s nomination and go on to succeed President Bush, whose sky-high popularity had plummeted in an economic downturn. Imagine a Democratic Congress at or near full strength, with 57 Democratic Senators and 258…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Dec 10, 2008)—Major farm organizations sent Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer a letter yesterday conveying serious concerns about the significant delay in publishing the regulations implementing numerous commodity and conservation provisions of the recently enacted farm bill. The letter, which was also delivered to Office of Management & Budget Director Jim Nussle and to Congressional…
DetailsCommittee Letter to President Bush Twenty-two United States Senators from farm states sent President Bush a letter on Dec. 8 expressing their “serious concerns about the direction of global agricultural trade negotiations in Geneva.” The letter, which was signed by 15 members of the Agriculture Committee including Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Saxby…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Dec 9, 2008)—The Washington Post ran a front-page piece in April penned by a fellow of the German Marshall Fund—a well-heeled and outspoken farm critic—about a DC-area bagel shop that was forced to raise prices because of wheat costs. Like many news stories from the time period, the article—which is posted on the German…
DetailsPress release from the Senate Finance Committee Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-La), sent a letter today to President Bush, urging the administration to stand firm in the Doha Round negotiations at the…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Dec 1, 2008)—Visit most any university-level journalism class across the country, and you’ll undoubtedly hear a lesson about taking quotes out of context. It is a lesson aspiring reporters are taught early on in the curriculum—be accurate when quoting a source and don’t mischaracterize a source’s quote to fit the story you want to…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Nov 20, 2008)—Larry Combest, the former Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, this week penned a policy paper outlining potential pitfalls for farmers if the current World Trade Organization trade talks conclude without serious revisions. “Moving forward with the current direction of the Doha Round would critically injure an important sector of the U.S.…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Nov 7, 2008)—If you’re miffed about grocery prices still being high despite price drops in fuel and agricultural commodities, you’re in good company. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently penned a letter to the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) demanding one of two things: cheaper food on the shelves or an apology for unfairly blaming…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Nov 3, 2008)—Since 1973, farm bills have included a Rural Development Title. The 2008 farm bill builds on that tradition, addressing a wide range of policy issues affecting rural communities. Subjects covered by the title include economic planning and development; essential community facilities (such as emergency first responders and healthcare); water, waste disposal, and…
DetailsBy: National Cotton Council There are many remaining areas of disagreement in the Doha Round trade negotiations. In the months since the Doha Round July mini-ministerial, virtually all of the discussion has centered on the Special Safeguard Mechanism, cotton, and Sectoral Negotiations in the NAMA (non-agricultural market access) negotiations as being among the last remaining…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Oct 23, 2008)—While Wall Street crumbled, poison seeped through a crack in the Great Wall of China’s bureaucracy over to our shores. And we barely paid it any notice. It would be almost impossible to see a better example of the importance of food security if it were staged. But there it is—from Vietnam…
DetailsAbout once a year “20/20” reporter John Stossel produces a piece about the evils of farm policy. None of the material is groundbreaking—he uses the same talking points that have been regurgitated by farm opponents for years. And like most professional farm critics, Stossel’s story is full of holes and keeps changing. In his 2007…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Oct 2, 2008)—In terms of farm policy, producers are in limbo right now, caught somewhere in between the new 2008 farm act and the old 2002 law. Farm bill implementing regulations have yet to be written, lawmakers and USDA officials continue to tussle over the intent of the law, and farmers are confused. Few…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Sep 24, 2008)—Want to take a cooking class from the founder of the Viking Range Corporation? You don’t have to shell out for a trendy culinary school in Manhattan; you simply need to head to a small town of 20,000 in the Mississippi Delta. Fred Carl, Jr., Viking’s founder, has joined the ranks of…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Sep 19, 2008)—During the farm bill debate, critics of farm policy were quick to accuse the men and women who feed and clothe the country of preferential treatment. Farm bill opponents pushed for a restrictive cap—based on a farmer’s adjusted gross income or AGI—to limit who can receive benefits from the farm safety net.…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Sep 12, 2008)—The “farm bill” might sound like a piece of legislation that deals strictly with agricultural policy, but it is far from narrowly focused. Every month, Farm Policy Facts will dissect a title of the bill to illustrate its breadth and importance to people all over our country – not just farmers. This…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Aug 22, 2008)—Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, and Virginia will be the big battleground states in the upcoming presidential election, according to a recent analysis by CNN. And with the exception of New Hampshire, agriculture is a dominate industry in all of them. No wonder the candidates…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 25, 2008)—Following the announcement of a trade concession a few years ago, a Minnesota farmer gave a local reporter a quote for the ages. “We need to have uniforms made up for our trade negotiators so they know what team they play for,” he said. Now with current WTO trade talks headed in…
DetailsTalks in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have collapsed again because Brazil, China, and India were unwilling to bend. Despite a powerful letter from 17 of the 21 members of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a clear message from the agricultural community, U.S. trade negotiators offered even more concessions in Geneva.…
DetailsWASHINGTON (July 14, 2008)—Farmers on both sides of the pond today came out swinging against the direction of international trade negotiations. “With a decisive Ministerial to be held next week, the undersigned organizations, representing America’s farmers and ranchers, wish to express their continued deep concern about the status and direction of the Doha Round of…
DetailsMEMPHIS – Criticisms of U.S. cotton farm programs are unwarranted. The truth: U.S. farm programs have operated as designed, supporting farmers’ incomes in times of low prices while allowing them to react to market signals. A report that dispels myths about U.S. farm law support to America’s cotton farmers can be found on the National…
DetailsWASHINGTON (June 27, 2008)—If it seems like Congress was voting on the farm bill every time you turned around, it’s probably because they have been. And industry insiders fear that the farm bill will not fade from the forefront anytime soon. The first public farm bill fight centered on the now-infamous Kind-Flake amendment. Despite the…
DetailsWASHINGTON (June 23, 2008)—Despite expressing some concerns with the farm bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture appears to be making implementation of the new law a top priority. In a press release sent out yesterday, the USDA announced 2008 loan rates as well as new marketing assistance loan and loan deficiency payment provisions from the…
DetailsThe farm bill has endured some rough obstacles in its venture to become law. Thankfully, many congressional members backed the farm bill to the very end. Farm Policy Facts would like to highlight some of their statements in support of the farm bill. “This is good legislation. It is good for the country and certainly…
DetailsWASHINGTON (May 23, 2008)—Despite a technical error and widespread confusion, 14 out of the 15 titles of the farm bill became law yesterday after the U.S. Senate voted to override President Bush’s veto. The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to override the veto. A technical glitch led to one of the bill’s sections—the title…
DetailsBy: Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 15, 2008: I come to the floor to ask my colleagues to work with me to pass one of the most critical economic stimulus packages this body will have a chance to vote on all year. This is a balanced proposal, both ensuring the viability…
DetailsBy: Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 15, 2008: Why a bill at all? Well, because our major competitors have much more ambitious support for their producers than we have for ours. This is a fact. The Europeans are providing more than three times as much support to their producers than we…
DetailsBy: Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 14, 2008: We have come to a point where I believe we have a good bill that should be supported by all Members of this Congress from both urban, suburban and rural areas. I have here a chart that shows how the current farm bill…
DetailsBy: Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 14, 2008: This farm bill contains solid reforms while addressing a variety of issues including forestry, rural development, renewable energy, nutrition, conservation, research, specialty crops, and livestock and still maintains the safety net necessary to ensure a safe, reliable and affordable domestic food supply. This…
DetailsBy: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 15, 2008: [F]arming is a critical part of the economy in my home state of Washington. Many people don’t know it, but Washington is the Nation’s 11th-largest farm State. And we are the third-largest producer of fruits and vegetables–which are also known around here as…
DetailsBy: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) Excerpt from Congressional Record May 15, 2008: This farm bill is important for a lot of reasons. I don’t have time to get into all the details of why I think this bill is important, but it does preserve a strong safety net. It does provide a permanent disaster title,…
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