Farm News, IA
07-27-07
Farm Bill passes House Ag committee
By Kristin Danley-Greiner, Farm News staff
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill drafted last Thursday retains
the current subsidy system for the most part, after lawmakers employed “budget
tricksî and spending cuts to raise subsidy rates for many crops.” But some
believe a few crucial components are still missing.
The farm subsidy system enacted courtesy of the 2002 farm bill emerged in the
House Ag Committee’s 2007 farm bill draft, but lawmakers did expand several
conservation programs and padded fixed annual payments to grain farmers.
However, the House farm bill also blocks new enrollments through 2012 in the
popular Conservation Security Program, which was enacted in 2002 to assist
farmers who adopt practices that deter pollution and improve wildlife habitat.
Iowa grain farmer Bob Bowman, of DeWitt, spoke with Farm News from Ontario,
Can., and said that when it comes to the 2007 farm bill, the corn growers will
’’stand pretty firmî on supporting their revenue assurance proposal. He serves as
the Iowa Corn Growers Association president.
“We need to see something pretty close to that proposal,î” he said. “We still have
hopes that through the Senate, we’ll still get something close to what we want.î”
Another point of contention among producers is big landowners receiving a larger
piece of the payoff pie. Under the House’s farm bill draft, people who earn more
than $1 million a year, or as little as $500,000 if they have other income
generators, would not receive farm subsidies and conservation payments. Under
current law, the limit is $2.5 million.
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee,
addressed issues important to dairy farmers.
“Dairy forward contracting is an important risk management tool for dairy farmers
and I’m happy to say that I made sure this bill includes it,î” he said in a
statement. ’’Also, I made sure the committee included provisions to protect
farmers from attack by environmentalists who have tried to claim that manure is
labeled toxic waste. My provision should make sure farmers aren’t forced to
follow senseless environmental regulation. Thankfully, we were also able to
defend the commodities title against a smaller budget than 2002 and kept it
intact. That’s good for corn and soybeans, amongst other crops.î
Still, producers shouldn’t invest too much in the current farm bill proposal,
considering there will be more changes afoot. Roger A. McEowen, Leonard
Dolezal Professor in Agricultural Law and director of the Iowa State
University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, noted that the Senate
and House Agriculture Committees are ’’still far from completing their work.î
’’The farther along the committees get in the process, it becomes increasingly
clear that finding new money to fund new priorities (such as bioenergy
development, increased funding for conservation and nutrition programs, and a
permanent disaster assistance program) will be very difficult,î” he said. “Thus,
there is an increased inclination at the committee level to stick with existing
programs. There is money for them—it’s in the budget baseline assigned to the
committees—and farmers generally seem satisfied with existing programs.”î
However, that doesn’t mean that bold new proposals for farm policy reform are
dead, McEowen said.
“Once the committees complete their work on the farm bill and it heads to the
floor for debate, proponents of substantial reform get another chance to argue
their case to a perhaps more receptive general membership of both bodies. Not
being tied so closely to parochial farm interests, non-agriculture committee
congressmen approach the farm bill debate with an open mind,”î he said. “So,
expect the drumbeat for reform to increase after the farm bill leaves the
committee and nears the time for floor debate.î
That floor debate in the House should occur soon, but McEowen said that the
Senate Agriculture Committee likely will not vote on the farm bill before the
August recess.
’’Some think that it will be problematic to have a House-passed farm bill sit
around for months while the Senate continues to the debate the matter. I am not
sure that is the case. In 1990 and again in 2002, the House passed its bill several
months prior to the Senate acting, and I don’t recall that the gap in timing in itself
had any significant effect in the ultimate product that came out of the HouseSenate conference on the bill,î he said. ’’Even though the House has scheduled
mark-up and floor debate doesn’t mean that it will happen. In the last few days,
there has been some speculation that the House might delay until September,
too.î
Other notable portions of this House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill draft
include:
A special subsidy program that will help biodiesel plants cover the increasing
costs of soybeans and soybean oil. On the flipside, conventional corn ethanol
producers would no longer be eligible for those subsidies.
Authorizing up to $10,000 annually per farm for cost-share payments to help
farms convert to organic agriculture.
An increase to 3.6 million acres from 2.3 million acres for the Wetlands Reserve
Program, which is designed to restore and maintain sloughs, prairie potholes and
other wetlands. Enabling more schools to participate in a federal program that
provides free fruit and vegetables for students, with upward of 35 schools in
every state selected to be in the program. Currently, Iowa is limited to 25
schools.
An ’’open fieldsî grant program where states pay landowners to offer up their
private land to hunters and fishermen.