Peanut Study Concludes New Farm Bill to Generate More Revenue than Old Program

Everett Says Study's Conclusion of Increased Revenue Under New Peanut Program Underscores Value of 2002 Farm Bill's Reforms

A study released last month by a peanut industry research group concluding that the new peanut program will generate more revenue than the previous program underscores the value of the reforms that Congress undertook in the 2002 Farm Bill, Congressman Terry Everett, R-Rehobeth, said.

Congressman Everett, a member of House Agriculture Committee and a co-author of the 2002 Farm Bill, said the study by the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness supports the Farm Bill's reforms aimed at the Southeast peanut industry.

"During the writing of the new Farm Bill and peanut program," Everett said, "it was our intent to devise a new payment structure for peanut growers which protected their livelihoods while also compensating for the loss of quota. If we kept the old quota system, we faced the certainty of declining domestic production coupled with the undermining effects of cheaper foreign imports, not to mention continued political opposition in Washington.

"The new peanut program removed those threats, providing a more even playing field for our Southeast peanut industry," Everett added. "The Center's independent analysis is certainly important in that it underscores the value of the peanut program reforms in the 2002 Farm Bill."

Congressman Everett observed that while the new farm bill is a sound one for the peanut industry the transition to the new peanut program has not been an easy one for all growers this year as the double effect of drought followed by wet weather negatively impacted the crop.

"It is unfortunate that the weather turned against growers as the new Farm Bill is being implemented," Everett observed. "We are working with growers to make this transition as easy as possible. Perhaps these problems would have been avoided had the U.S. Senate acted sooner to pass the new Farm Bill."

The study titled "Impact of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002" was released in December by the University of Georgia's National Center for Peanut Competitiveness. The Center used data from 10 representative Southeast peanut farms to compare potential peanut revenue under the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act (former Farm Bill) and the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (new Farm Bill) for the years 2002 to 2007.

The Center's analysis showed that revenue would increase under the 2002 Farm Bill as compared to the 1996 Farm Bill. The study found that a majority of the participating farms receiving 100 percent of the direct and counter-cyclical payments under the new peanut program would see an increase in revenues over the former peanut program.