Congressman
CHARLIE STENHOLM
17th District of Texas

AG TALK
By Charlie Stenholm
May 10, 2002

Senate Passes 2002 Farm Bill

The 2002 Farm Bill came one step closer to completion this past Wednesday when the Senate, by a vote of 64-35, approved the final House and Senate conference agreement on the Farm Bill. 

Now that both the House and Senate have voted to approve the conference agreement, the bill will go to the White House, and President Bush has indicated he will sign it. It will probably be signed into law sometime during the week of May 13. 

This Farm Bill couldn’t have come too soon. Farmers and ranchers are facing the fifth straight year of record low prices and record high costs of production. Our producers are facing the lowest real net cash income on the farm since the Great Depression.

I would remind critics of the bill that our foreign trading partners spend nine times more on subsidies for their producers than the U.S. does for our own producers.

This new Farm Bill should prevent the need for the annual emergency assistance that has been required year after year, since passage of the so-called Freedom to Farm Act of 1996.

In fact, less money will be spent under the new Farm Bill than was spent to support U.S. producers under the Freedom to Farm Act. 

However, the new Farm Bill fully maintains the market-oriented features and planting flexibility of the 1996 Farm Bill.

It will continue the current marketing loan program at increased loan rates for all crops except soybeans, and all production will be eligible for the marketing loan.

Counter-cyclical payments will be made whenever the effective price for a covered commodity is less than the target price. 
It is also worth noting that this Farm Bill included the largest increase in conservation spending than any previous farm bill in our nation’s history. 

I will be providing more specific information about the new Farm Bill in the weeks ahead. 

USDA Announces Emergency Farm Loans

USDA announced this week that 66 counties in Texas are eligible for USDA emergency farm loans as the result of losses caused by drought, high winds and high temperatures that occurred last year.

In the 17th Congressional District Callahan, Eastland and Stephens Counties were named as primary disaster areas on May 2 because of drought, high winds and high temperatures.

Also eligible because they are contiguous, or neighboring, are Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Erath, Jones Shackelford, Taylor, Throckmorton and Young Counties. 

Because of drought, Nolan County was named as a primary disaster area, and Jones County is eligible because it is contiguous.

Drought and high temperatures make Schleicher County eligible as a primary disaster area, with Irion and Tom Green Counties eligible because they are contiguous.

This designation by USDA makes all qualified farm operators in primary and contiguous disaster counties eligible for low-interest emergency farm loans from the Farm Services Agency (FSA), providing that all eligibility requirements are met. 

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of this declaration to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses. For further information, farmers should contact their local FSA office.

USDA Increases Compensation for Karnal Bunt Wheat

The USDA is expanding its compensation coverage for farmers whose crops have been affected by Karnal bunt. 

USDA will provide compensation for certain growers and handlers of grain and seed who are not currently eligible for compensation.

The compensation will vary depending on the farmer’s location and the circumstances under which the wheat was affected. In no case, however, will the compensation exceed $1.80 per bushel. 

Most of the changes in compensation and payment rates involve farmers in Archer, Baylor, Throckmorton and Young Counties. 
Beginning with the current 2001 wheat crop year, growers who knowingly plant wheat in areas previously regulated for Karnal bunt are not eligible for compensation. 

The growers and handlers of 2001-crop wheat that was harvested in the four key Texas counties will receive a one-year extension and be eligible for compensation through the 2001 crop season that ends May 31. 

The growers, handlers and seed companies who are eligible will have 90 days from May 1 to present their claims for compensation to USDA’s Farm Services Agency.

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