AFBF Lists Priorities for Farm Bill Conference Report

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 27, 2002 – The American Farm Bureau Federation today listed priority positions that it will push to have included in the final farm bill conference report. In a letter to all members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, AFBF President Bob Stallman outlined those positions and called for expeditious completion of the report.

The AFBF farm bill conference report priorities, approved this week by the AFBF Board of Directors, include support for some aspects of both the House and Senate farm bills. Those priorities include:

• Adoption of House provisions on fixed decoupled payments, loan rates, counter-cyclical programs and payment limits.
• Support for a Senate provision that allows farmers the option of updating their yield for farm program purposes.
• Opposition to Senate language regarding producers in seven states enrolling in the conservation reserve program in exchange for water rights. This language, according to AFBF, threatens to "shut down agriculture in part of the U.S. and must be stricken from the bill."
• Support for expansion of a conservation incentive package as provided in the Conservation Security Act contained in the Senate farm bill.
• Adoption of the House environmental conservation acreage reserve program (ECARP) and environmental quality incentive program (EQIP) modifications, which include a 50/50 split of EQIP funds for crops and livestock.

"Farm Bureau has views on many of the provisions in the two bills," Stallman said. "However, we have prioritized (those points) as most important for inclusion in the final conference report."

While in support of the House position on loan rates, Stallman's letter said AFBF will urge conferees to "fix the loan rates in statute rather than allowing them to fluctuate as is provided for in H.R. 2646."

The letter also expressed the AFBF board's concern about the Senate bill's reduction in "decoupled payments in future years and the bill's heavy reliance on marketing loans and target prices as the keys for a farm safety net." According to Stallman, a producer only receives a payment under the marketing loan program if a crop is harvested. If there is a crop failure, there is no payment, and even under the target price proposal crop failures often result in prices above the target price. Fixed decoupled payments are also preferred as World Trade Organization commitments are taken into consideration.

AFBF remains firmly opposed to "the onerous payment limit included in the Senate bill," which Stallman said "imposes very severe limitations and means tests on producers and substantially reduces support from current levels at a time of severe economic pressures." The AFBF board action also expressed concern about the Senate provision authorizing "intrusive, government micro-management by establishing a minimum number of hours of direct supervision and management in order for farm operators to be eligible for program payments."

Stallman's letter communicated AFBF support for the Senate's yield update provision, since current yields for farm program purposes are based on yields from 1981 to 1985.

"Our producers believe the yields should be updated to reflect more current yields," Stallman said. "If reductions must be made in the cost of the program, we prefer updated yields with a reduced payment percentage."

Contacts:

Don Lipton 202-484-3624 donl@fb.org

Mace Thornton (847) 685-8755 macet@fb.org

This page was last modified Wed Feb 27, 2002 at 02:16 pm