2002 Farm Bill

Text of 2002 Farm Bill

Press Releases on 2002 Farm Bill

Columns on the 2002 Farm Bill

Email Ron about the 2002 Farm Bill

In May, 2002, the Congress passed the Farm Security Act of 2001, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill. This legislation replaces the Federal Agriculture Improvement Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996. The FAIR Act, and subsequent supplemental legislation, has led to an agriculture policy which largely provides subsidy assistance to producers based on enrolled land and yield production, resulting in over 60 percent of our nation's farmers excluded from federal agriculture support. For instance, unlike southern and Great Plains states, Wisconsin receives very little federal agriculture assistance.

In an effort to reform federal agriculture policy, and to return more money to our hardworking farmers and rural communities, I sought to increase funding of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs. As you know, conservation programs are voluntary and incentive-based. Farmers receive financial assistance for good soil, water, and air quality stewardship while also helping producers who may be facing regulations from the state Department of Natural Resources or the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Through amendments and other floor motions, I was able to bring the plight of our state's farmers to the center of the debate. During the farm bill debate, I worked at every level to ensure that the bill addressed the entrenched inequities of commodity price support programs, and provided innovative, modern, and sound solutions to the plight of farmers in our nation.

First, during preliminary debate on this bill, I offered an amendment that would have shifted some commodity payments to regionally-equitable conservation programs. Unfortunately, my amendment was defeated on the House floor, 226-200. Due to these efforts, however, the Senate-passed farm bill and the agreed upon conference report that blended the differences between the House and Senate passed bills, resembled many of the provisions articulated in my bill.

During the farm bill debate, I also led the effort in the House to accept legislative language that enacted a per-farm USDA subsidy payment cap at $275,000. Countering my effort were primarily larger southern interests, who sought to increase the per-farm payment cap to $550,000; through various loopholes individuals could potentially receive over $1 million in commodity assistance. Farm bill conferees ignored the wishes of a majority of House and Senate members and established a $360,000 payment cap. With the inclusion of the various loopholes, an individual farm entity can receive nearly double this amount.

During debate on the final version of the farm bill, I once again worked with my colleagues in an attempt to fix the problems with this bill. I offered a Motion to Recommit, which would have briefly sent the farm bill back to conference, giving the conferees a chance to truly limit subsidies. This Motion was not accepted and the final version of the farm bill passed the House.

While I continue to remain opposed to a federal agriculture policy that fails the test of fiscal responsibility and does not provide regionally equitable assistance, I am pleased that the final bill did establish a new dairy program that provides financial assistance based on the first 2.4 million pounds of milk produced. This bill is similar to my Family Farm Dairy Equity Act that I first introduced in July 2000. My intent in introducing the legislation was to treat all dairy producers fairly and stop pitting region-against-region and farmer-against-farmer. This was accomplished in this farm bill. Hopefully, this well intentioned program will not lead to increased market distortion and milk overproduction.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you should have further comments or questions, please contact me.