The House and Senate Farm Bill negotiators have reached
agreement on a Farm Bill that includes provisions for
America’s cattle producers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association (NCBA) said today. Key components of the bill for
farmers and ranchers are funding for conservation programs, a
market driven commodity title and country of original
labeling.
Conservation
Under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP),
a program where USDA and producers share costs of conservation
efforts, livestock producers can receive up to $450,000 in
cost share, over the life of the six year Farm Bill.
"We are pleased that the EQIP program was so well funded,"
said Chandler Keys, Vice President, Public Policy. "This level
of EQIP funding will help cattle producers preserve the land
for future generations and comply with environmental
regulations."
The inclusion of the Grasslands Reserve Program is another
important victory for cattle producers. This program will help
producers preserve America’s grasslands and help them
constructively deal with sprawl and development.
Commodity
The Commodity Title of Farm Bill 2002 is expected to
continue in much the same way it was established in 1996, and
is not expected to have unintended consequences of a negative
nature to beef production.
"By maintaining marketing loans, the conferees have insured
that livestock producers, the largest customer for America’s
grain, will pay market price for feed," said Jim Pellet,
Chairman, NCBA Agriculture Policy Committee.
Trade
The Trade Title contains provisions that are important in
promoting U.S. beef in countries like Korea, Japan and
Mexico.
"We are pleased that the conferees recognize the importance
of the Market Access Program and provide a substantial
increase in funding. This funding is extremely beneficial for
promoting U.S. beef abroad."
Country of Origin Labeling
The conferees agreed to a two-year voluntary
country-of-origin labeling program, which becomes mandatory in
the third year.
"NCBA would have preferred a voluntary country of origin
labeling program in the House/Senate Farm Bill compromise,"
said Keys. "The two-year voluntary program will provide an
opportunity to determine the sustainability of a mandatory
program."
"NCBA will continue to pursue a labeling initiative that
provides consumers with the information they seek and U.S.
producers with the market recognition they deserve," said
Keys. "NCBA will closely monitor the country of origin
labeling program for its impact on the industry. We have
concerns that a mandatory country of origin labeling program
may have negative trade implications and place regulatory
burdens not only on retailers and packers, but on cattle
producers themselves."
Packer Ownership
The compromise version of the Farm Bill eliminated the
provision banning packer ownership. Proponents of the
provision felt that it would solve profitability problems in
the cattle industry.
While NCBA recognizes that there are tremendous losses in
the industry right now, we did not believe that this provision
would solve the multitude of problems facing the industry.
"This is a multi-faceted problem," said Wythe Willey,
producer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and President of NCBA.
"That’s why we are taking a broad-based approach to solving
it. NCBA recently established a task force to develop viable
solutions to answer complex marketplace questions."
"NCBA looks forward to engaging the intellectual capacity
of government and the industry in investigating solutions to
the marketplace problems," said Willey. "We do not rule out
utilizing government action in solving these problems, however
we want to be careful and prescriptive in using federal
measures."
"The financial malaise facing the cattle and beef market is
a complicated sickness, and we want to make sure that the cure
is not worse than the disease," said
Willey.