FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2002
Contact: Drew Goesl 

Lincoln: Southern Farmers Targeted in Farm Bill Debate

Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today said an amendment adopted by the Senate last week to further restrict payment limits in the 2002 Farm Bill will limit the ability of Arkansas rice and cotton farmers to compete in today's global marketplace. Lincoln based her assessment on data from a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

"The numbers in this report confirm what our farmers had been telling us all along– that the Grassley-Dorgan amendment would impact southern agriculture more than any other region in the country if it becomes final law," said Lincoln. "The effect would hamper Arkansas farmers in their efforts to become more competitive, as they see rapidly falling prices in world markets. Our farmers would virtually be squeezed between the need to increase their acreage in order to lower their per unit costs, and the glass ceiling imposed by this amendment."

Lincoln fought vigorously against the payment limitation amendment introduced by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that passed the Senate last Thursday. A recently released CRS report illustrates the effects of this amendment on farmers nationwide. The report shows that rice farms consisting of more than 487 acres could be subject to payment limitations, and as a result the amendment could jeopardize their ability to be competitive. Cotton farms consisting of more than 881 acres could also be subject to these payment limitations. In some Arkansas counties, the average farm exceeds these effective size limitations. According to Lincoln's estimates utilizing the latest agriculture census data (compiled through 1997), the report reveals that up to 24% of Arkansas rice farms and 30% of Arkansas cotton farms could be affected by the payment limitations.

"We need a farm bill that better recognizes the regional needs of farmers in a fair way," said Lincoln. "This amendment is discriminatory because it neglects the comparative advantage southern producers have with rice and cotton, and in fact, it specifically targets rice and cotton producers. My support for the Senate farm bill is dependent upon what it does for my state, and a bill that gives a regional edge to producers outside of Arkansas is something I simply can't support."

Lincoln contends that the Grassley-Dorgan amendment eliminates several components relied upon by Arkansas farmers to ensure an adequate support level, such as 3-entity rule and generic commodity certificates. The amendment also lowers the effective level of financial support from each of the three primary components of the Senate bill's commodity title– fixed payments, loan deficiency payments, and countercyclical payments.

A vote on final passage of the farm bill in the Senate is expected to occur tomorrow, and the Senate-House conference committee is expected to assemble immediately following to resolve differences between the legislation passed by both bodies.