FARM BILL PASSES 64-35! The official title of the new farm bill is
the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, and its official purpose is to
provide for the continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year
2007.
However, for farmers it means that a safety net has been put in place,
and that there is security in knowing what benefits are available for the
duration of the bill. The bill was officially introduced in the House of
Representatives on July 26, 2001, and after a long and uncertain road, was
passed on Wednesday May 8, 2002 by a vote of 64 to 35 in the United States
Senate.
The 421-page bill is not short and is not easy reading. The Manager’s
amendment that accompanies the bill is a more narrative description of
original positions of House and Senate on their farm bills, with a
statement of how the House and Senate conferees decided to resolve these
differences. Both HR 2646 and the Managers Amendment may be found on both
the House and Senate website, at www.house.gov.agriculture and
www.senate.gov.agriculture as well as NAWG’s website at
www.wheatworld.org.
NAWG officers Gary Broyles, Tommy Womack, Mark Gage, Dusty Tallman and
Sherman Reese, in Washington for a meeting, made Hill visits on Monday and
Tuesday seeking support for the bill. While some Senators made their
positions clear in the beginning, it wasn’t until the final tally was
taken that it was clear that the final hurdle had been passed. While
theSenate vote was not close, the debate reflected many of the same
concerns NAWG heard while making Hill visits during the week.
Issues of concern in the Senate focused on overall spending, payment
limits and the lack of a ban on packer ownership of livestock. In all, 43
Democrats, 20 Republicans and 1 independent voted for the package, while 7
Democrats and 28 Republicans were opposed. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) did
not vote.
The President has pledged to sign the Farm Bill as soon as it is placed
on his desk. Signing is anticipated Monday and NAWG has been invited to
attend. However, this is only the beginning of the challenge. FSA must now
deal with implementation, including rule making. Already dealing with
critical funding issues, USDA requested $110 million to carry out the
provisions of the bill. A total of $55 million was allocated to FSA. Not
the least of the challenges will be to document yield updating, an option
in the bill.
