MEMPHIS - National Cotton Council Chairman
James E. Echols says the farm bill commodity title passed by Senate
Agriculture Committee includes priorities with the potential to
restore U.S. cotton industry profitability.
Offered by
Chairman Harkin (D-IA) with principal co-sponsors Sens. Daschle
(D-SD) and Conrad (D-ND), the title passed on a 12-9 vote, with Sen.
Hutchinson (R-AR) joining with Democrat members in voting for final
passage. An alternative measure offered by Sen. Roberts (R-KS) and
endorsed by Secretary of Agriculture Veneman failed on a party line
vote, with Sen. Lugar (R-IN) abstaining.
"We commend Chairman
Harkin for moving ahead with the farm policy agenda so as to provide
producers and lenders with a more stable outlook for U.S.
agriculture for the 2002 crop year and beyond," Echols said. "The
goal now is to work in a bipartisan manner to get a bill passed by
the Senate, through conference and signed by the President in time
for next year’s crop."
Echols noted that several provisions,
which were high NCC priorities, are incorporated in the bill. Those
include retention of the marketing loan, with redemption keyed to
prevailing world market price; retention of cotton’s 3-step
competitiveness program; a procedure for computing base acres that
does not penalize growers who have opted to use FAIR Act’s
flexibility provisions to under-plant their crop bases; payment
eligibility provisions that enable commercially viable family
farming operations to benefit from farm program participation; and a
safety net that helps producers better manage income and
risk.
"Senators Lincoln (D-AR) and Miller (D-GA) provided
critical leadership in getting these major provisions included in
the bill," Echols said. "In particular, Sen. Lincoln worked to
ensure that payment eligibility provisions and base acreage
adjustments were incorporated into the final version. Senators
Cochran (R-MS), Helms (R-NC) and Hutchinson worked hard to make the
Republican alternative as viable as possible for U.S. cotton and to
draw the Administration into the debate."
"We look forward to
working with the Senate to ensure that these cotton industry
principles are retained in the bill that is finally enacted. The
industry also will continue to work for other important but low-cost
provisions that were not included, among which are elimination of
the 1.25-cent threshold in the industry’s Step 2 competitiveness
provision and income protection for cottonseed."
NCC analysts
said the bill includes a number of improvements making it much more
acceptable than earlier Senate versions. Importantly, payment limit
provisions were adjusted to much more reasonable levels for
commercially viable family farming operations.
Majority
Leader Daschle expressed his intention to bring the bill to the
Senate floor sometime after Thanksgiving recess.
Key bill
provisions include: 1) 55-cent marketing loan with redemption at
prevailing world market price; 2) safety net price of 68 cents/lb.
paid on 100 percent of eligible pounds; 3) fixed decoupled payment
of 13 cents/lb. for 2002-2003, 6.5 cents for 2004-2005 and 3.25
cents for 2006; 4) $100,000 per person limitation on combination of
fixed and counter-cyclical payments; 5) continuation of 3-entity
rule; 6) continuation of marketing certificates; and 7) ELS loan of
79.65 cents/lb. and continuation of competitiveness
program.
Provisions of Republican alternative included: 1)
51.92-cent marketing loan with redemption at prevailing world market
price; 2) continuation of 3-step competitiveness program; 3)
9.18-cents/lb. fixed, decoupled payment; 4) continuation of 3-entity
rule and marketing certificates; and 5) Farm Counter-Cyclical
Savings Account with matching contribution of up to 2 percent of
average adjusted gross
revenue.