Kleckner plows through a range of farm issues

AFBF President Dean Kleckner feeds a cow at the dairy of Case van Steyn, right.

By Robyn Rutger Evans
Assistant Editor
From animal waste to unilateral trade sanctions, Dean Kleckner, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, discussed major issues the nation's farmers face during his recent visit to California.

In terms of livestock issues, Kleckner - an Iowa hog farmer - said that common sense is needed in dealing with animal waste and its impact on water quality.

"In my view, you should not prosecute or persecute a farmer for an unavoidable accident," he said. "But a farmer who is purposely dumping livestock waste into a creek or a river ought to be fined severely, and if he persists, be put out of business."

During his visit, Kleckner toured the 750-cow Van Steyn Dairy in Elk Grove and listened to owner Case van Steyn explain how dairies must continually make improvements to comply with new government regulations. They were accompanied by Jack King, manager of the California Farm Bureau Federation's National Affairs division.

"The law needs to give farmers time to comply with regulations that make sense. Regrettably, some states are passingand the federal government is talking aboutregulations and laws that just don't make sense, that will drive livestock out of the United States," Kleckner said, noting that foreign competitors are more than willing to increase their U.S. market share. "If American consumers would like to have good quality American beef, pork, chicken and turkey on the shelves of the supermarkets, they ought to be concerned with laws that make sense, that allow livestock production to continue in the United States along with good environmental results from the livestock."

Another livestock issue that he addressed is mandatory price reporting by meat packers. Kleckner recently testified in support of the controversial issue before the House subcommittee on livestock and horticulture, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy.

"There's no reason that livestock slaughterers­the packing plants­ shouldn't be asked to mandatorily report what they're paying everyday," Kleckner said. "It's a matter of letting farmers and producers know what's happening so we can do a better job of marketing our products. I think it has a fairly good chance of passing Congress this year because there seems to be very high levels of support not only amongst producers and farm organizations, but also among members of Congress."

Kleckner's recent testimony before Congress also included support for country-of-origin labeling. "Farm Bureau's view is this is really a consumer-right-to-know issue," he said. A label that identifies a product as, say, Canadian beef or New Zealand lamb, is needed "so the consumers simply know where it's coming from, and then they can make their own choice about what they'd rather buy.

"Florida has had a state country-of-origin law for a long time20 yearsand it's working very well," Kleckner said. He encouraged Congress to set up a pilot program to see if it would work, rather than simply reject the idea. "It could be the pilot program for the U.S. to look at," he said. "I'm hoping that we will see country-of-origin labeling yet this year, and if not this year, then the next year or two. Eventually I think we're going to have a nationwide law stating that, because many of our competing nations in the world have country-of-origin labeling requirements to sell in their country. I think we should do the same thing."

Kleckner recently participated in a press conference with Pombo on a bill that the congressman introduced: the Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act. He described it as an attempt "to straighten out what's wrong" with the Food Quality Protection Act.

"We're not asking for FQPA to be thrown out and a new law written," Kleckner said. "We think it's basically a good law, but it directs EPA to do certain things that they weren't given time to do in the bill.

"Congressman Pombo's bill is supported by both parties and many groups in agriculture. It's simply saying to EPA: 'You're going to have more time, get it right, don't rush to judgment, use actual data rather than guessing on data to meet an arbitary timetable that you're ill-equipped to meet.' I'm hoping that the bill will pass. I'm hoping that EPA will either support it or not oppose it...I think it has a reasonably good chance of passing later this year."

In terms of the overall health of the U.S. agriculture industry, "prices are at crisis level," Kleckner said. "World commodity prices are very low for most every commodity in agriculture."

He said the impact on U.S. farmers depends on "if you're able to have exports and maintain export sales." Due to the Asian financial crisis, for example, many Pacific Rim customers "almost quit buying and that has added to the extremely low price situation."

The White House, responding to pressure from farm organizations to help boost the sagging U.S. farm economy, recently lifted food and drug sanctions against several renegade countries.

"We're moving toward trade with most of the nations in the world that we now have sanctions on," Kleckner said. "Unilateral sanctions imposed only by the U.S. are just crazy. Other nations just love it when we put unilateral sanctions on Cuba or Iran or anybody else because that allows them to jump in and sell their own agricultural products. It just doesn't make sense."

In an effort to boost U.S. agricultural exports, Kleckner recently led a Farm Bureau delegation to Cuba, a huge potential export market that is only 100 miles off the coast of Florida. "We've had sanctions on Cuba for 40 yearsI really can't see what's been accomplished," he said. "That was a position taken by the American Farm Bureau at our most recent annual meeting when we said: 'Let's resume normal trading relations with Cuba and with many other nations of the world with which we don't have normal trading relations right now.'

"I think the president's decision to open trade in agriculture and medical supplies to Iran, Libya and Sudan bodes well for future considerations of the same thing with Cuba," Kleckner added.

When asked if he thinks Congress will give the president "fast-track" or trade negotiating authority this year, Kleckner said, "It seems doubtful to me at this point. We're still going to be working hard for it. In my view, there's one person though that's the key and his name happens to be President Bill Clinton. If he really decides he wants it, and goes to work for it, we've got a shot at getting it.

"It's really granting trade negotiating authority to our negotiators, whomever they are, as they talk about trade matters and try to arrive at trade agreements with other nations," he said. "We really need that so-called fast-track authority in order to strike new trade deals that will open markets around the world for U.S. agricultural products.

"The problem is that we've got organized labor and environmental groups that want to put in non-trade conditions in a trade bill," Kleckner continued. "The president seems to be leaning their way. We're saying there's nothing wrong with having our labor and environmental concerns addressed, but don't foul up trade talks. Take care of it in another manner. Don't hold trade hostage to other issues."

The World Trade Organization is scheduled to begin its next round of multilateral trade talks in late November in Seattle. "Very much is at stake for agriculture," Kleckner said. "We need to eliminate export subsidies in agriculture...Europe is still using $6 billion a year of agricultural subsidies into the export market and hardly any nation in the world can compete with that."

Import tariffs also need to be lowered and eventually eliminated, he said. Regarding sanitary and phytosanitary issues, "don't allow extraneous science or consumer feelings to enter into this," he said. "Examplethe beef hormone issue that we're fighting with the European Union about. The European scientists even agree almost unanimously that this is safe. American scientists, world scientists say this is safe. Europeans say 'we don't care, we still don't want it.' That's an unfair trade barrier and these things ought not to be allowed.

"We give pretty good market access to other nations getting in here with most every product," he added. "But other nations of the world need to give more access to our products."

Crop insurance reform is another issue that Kleckner recently testified before Congress on. The issue is "an extremely high priority of the American Farm Bureau," Kleckner said. He supports using the money that is normally spent on disaster payments "to buy down the cost of providing good crop insurance or all-commodity insurance which would include livestock." He said there is a lot of uncertainty among members of Congress about what they ought to do. "Will we take it away from something else or do we try to find new money? Again, a major problem that Congress will have to resolve."

Kleckner credited the American Farm Bureau Federation members with the successful letter-writing campaign to lower estate taxes that a person must pay to the Internal Revenue Service upon inheriting a family farm.

"We mounted a heavy letter-writing campaign and got 74,000 letters into members of Congress saying reform and lower the death taxes, and Congress responded."

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.