Press Releases

Release Date: July 13, 2001 Download in Word		Contact:Christopher Galen Phone:(703) 243-6111 email:CGalen@nmpf.org
NMPF ENCOURAGED BY HOUSE AG COMMITTEE FARM BILL OUTLINE
Chairman's Draft Plan Contains 10-Year Extension Of Dairy Safety Net
ARLINGTON, VA – The initial House Agriculture Committee plan for the future of federal farm policy contains the National Milk Producers Federation's number one priority: extension of the dairy price support program for an additional 10 years. The inclusion of that extension “is critical to offering America's dairy farmers a tested and reliable safety net during turbulent economic times, and we are gratified that the Agriculture Committee intends to include the program in the next Farm Bill,” said Jerry Kozak, Chief Executive Officer of NMPF.       House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX), along with Ranking Democrat Charles Stenholm, released Thursday a draft outline of the 2002 Farm Bill, which establishes the broad contours of future federal farm programs. After receiving testimony from a variety of farm organizations this past spring, the committee's leadership has now unveiled the basic program they hope to pass through Congress later this year.       The plan contains several priority items that NMPF requested, including extension of the current price support program, at a level of $9.90 per hundredweight. The total cost of the program during the ten-year period is $773 million.       “Our organization and others have looked at the best way to establish a reasonable, market-oriented safety net for dairy farmers, and the answer we kept arriving at was to continue the current price support program,” Kozak said. “We're very happy to see that Chairman Combest and Ranking Member Stenholm agree.”       In addition to the price support extension, the Farm Bill draft also reauthorizes the Dairy Export Incentive Program through 2011, at the maximum level allowed under U.S. commitments to the World Trade Organization. The draft also reauthorizes the Market Access Program through 2011 at a doubled funding level. In addition, the plan reauthorizes the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through 2011 at $1.2 billion annually, with livestock producers receiving 50% of the funding. The DEIP, MAP and EQIP programs were also priority items that NMPF supported in testimony to the Agriculture panel back in April.       The committee will now hold additional hearings on the new draft plan, with the goal of moving the Farm Bill legislation to the full House of Representatives later this year.             The National Milk Producers Federation, headquartered in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF's 31 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of 60,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.       For more on NMPF's activities, visit our Website at www.nmpf.org.       ###