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May 8, 2002

Miller Praises Passage of New Farm Bill
President Has Pledged to Sign It Into Law

**Click Here to Read the Full Speech**

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today praised the new Farm Bill, which was headed for final passage in the Senate Wednesday evening. The House has already passed the bill and President Bush has said he will sign the bill into law, allowing the nation's farmers to finally firm up their plans for this year's crop season and for the next six years.

"Farmers, ranchers, dairymen, bankers, equipment dealers, even family grocery store owners, can finally breathe a small sigh of relief. With this bill, Congress will finally deliver some help to America's rural communities. Many do not realize it, but these communities are facing their biggest crisis since the Great Depression," Miller said.

The 1996 Farm Bill expires at the end of this year. The new Farm Bill sets the nation's farm policy for the next six years. Agriculture is Georgia's top industry and provides one of every six jobs. Miller said the new Farm Bill is especially good for Georgia's two biggest crops: cotton and peanuts.

This bill makes an historic change that is especially important to Georgia: the elimination of the peanut quota system and the switch to a new market-oriented peanut program.

"Switching from this 80-year-old quota system to a new market oriented program was not easy. In fact, it has been downright painful for many in my state. But I am confident that the new peanut program will benefit not only peanut producers, but also American consumers," Miller said.

"The new peanut program will allow our farmers to compete on a global scale, just as farmers of other traditional commodities do. It will provide access to new markets and fairer price competition with foreign countries."

The funding levels for the new peanut program include a loan rate of $355 per ton, a target price of $495 per ton and a direct payment of $36 per ton. The bill also includes language supported by Miller requiring labels on peanut products to indicate their country of origin, giving consumers the ability to choose American-grown peanuts.

For peanut quota holders, the bill contains a five-year buyout that will pay them 11 cents per pound of quota over five years as the quota system is eliminated.

"I made sure that farm families who have worked hard to purchase this quota over the years are fairly compensated for their loss," Miller said. "Those who argue that quota holders don't deserve it simply do not understand how many have come to rely on this quota as their retirement. They don't understand how this quota system has helped fuel many rural economies over the years. So, when we do away with it, in all fairness, we've got to have a short transition. We need a bridge from the old system to the new, and this bill provides one."

The new bill sets the annual limit on federal crop payments at $360,000, which is higher than the $275,000 payment limit passed by the Senate, but less than the current payment limit of $460,000. Farms in the South are affected more by the payment limits because they tend to be larger, more costly operations. Also, Southern farmers are already struggling with skyrocketing production costs and low commodity prices.

"I am very pleased that the Farm Bill we have before us today does not have the lower payment limit that was adopted earlier by this Senate. That lower payment limit would have helped no farmer, but I can guarantee you it would have hurt many. I do not exaggerate: It would have forced many farmers in my state and across the South to put their farms on the auction block," Miller said.

For cotton, Georgia's largest crop in terms of acreage planted, the new Farm Bill includes a loan rate of 52 cents per pound, a direct payment of 6.67 cents per pound and a target price of 72 cents per pound.

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