July 2007
The 2007 Farm Bill passed today by
the U.S. House of Representatives meets with the approval of the nation's
two largest farmers' organizations. The bill, passed by a vote of 231-191,
retains a safety net for farmers when prices fall; authorizes a permanent
disaster program; and increases funding for conservation, nutrition, and
renewable energy.
The House farm bill is a good bill,"said Tom Buis, president of the
National Farmers Union, with a membership of 250,000 farm and ranch
families. "Conservation spending is increased by $4.6 billion, nutrition
program spending by $4 billion, renewable energy efforts by $2.5 billion
and, for the first time ever, provides $1.6 billion for fruit and
vegetable growers."
For the first time, the bill requires country of origin labeling for
meats, fruits and vegetables. "After five years of repeated delays,
Congress finally said it is time to implement mandatory country of origin
labeling for meats, fruits and vegetables to allow our nation's consumers
the right to know where there food comes from," Buis said.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman said, "For the
first time in recent history, no additional funding is provided for
commodity programs. At the same time, the bill meets the needs of more of
America's farmers by providing $1.6 billion in new funding for specialty
crop research, conservation, pest and disease programs, and nutrition.
"Overall, this bill directly benefits America's taxpayers because it is
fiscally responsible, spending $20 billion less than the prior farm bill,"
said Stallman. "That is real reform."
The bill received unanimous, bipartisan support from the House Agriculture
Committee July 20, but while the bill had broad support in the committee,
much of today's contentious debate focused an eleventh hour tax measure
introduced to fund nutrition programs.
Republicans from farm states became angry after the measure increasing
taxes by $4 billion on U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies was added to
the bill at the last minute, in part to pay for nutrition for impoverished
families.
"Not 24 hours before we were to consider this bill on the Floor, we were
made aware of a tax increase provision that had been added to this
language behind closed doors," fumed Congressman Bob Goodlatte of
Virginia, the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee.
"Unfortunately all of the good things contained in this bill have been
overshadowed by very partisan elements of what should be a bipartisan
bill."
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri blamed the Democrats for
taxing foreign companies that create jobs in this country.
"The tax hike included in the newest version of the majority's Farm Bill
would raise taxes on foreign companies operating inside the United States,
potentially driving millions of American jobs out of the country. These
companies employ more than 5.1 million of our citizens, with an average
compensation per worker of $63,428 a year," said Blunt.
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson blamed the the Bush
administration and Republican Leadership for trying to stall the
legislation.
"Mischaracterizing the offset that will expand nutrition benefits for
working families is just the latest attempt to derail this Farm Bill,
despite broad support for the bill from farm, conservation, nutrition,
energy, specialty crop and renewable energy groups," Peterson said.
"Apparently, the Bush administration and some in the Republican leadership
care more about defending the ability of foreign companies to exploit a
loophole in the U.S. tax system than they do about supporting the
hardworking families and farmers in this country. I hope that they will
reconsider their opposition and join us in supporting this Farm Bill that
represents a new direction for agriculture policy."
But Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said today the tax provision was
"crafted under a cloak of secrecy."
"We don't pass farm bills that way," Johanns told a news conference. "But
the most remarkable thing about this, the most remarkable thing about this
is that we put farmers and ranchers in this position of supporting a tax
increase on another industry to finance their program. Remarkable."
"And now we have pitted America's farmers and ranchers against the
National Association of Manufacturers, the Organization of International
Investment, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the United States Council for
International Business, and I could go on and on," Johanns said. "We
haven't broadened the support for farm policy; we have narrowed it."
Earlier this week, the Bush administration issued a veto threat against
the bill based on the tax issue.
A statement of policy issued by the White House said the House bill "moves
backward" and could compromise international trade negotiations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat shot back, "The tax
loophole objection raised by the White House is no more than a desperate
attempt at obstructionism. We must not let this disingenuous attack derail
this bipartisan farm bill."
"For the first time in 30 years, this bill increases the minimum food
stamp benefit and indexes it to inflation, so rising food costs do not
erode a families' purchasing power," Pelosi said. "The food stamp
provisions in this bill will prevent benefit cuts for more than 13 million
Americans over next five years."
"Members of Congress had to decide to either close a tax loophole enjoyed
by foreign corporations avoiding paying American taxes or feed our
nation's hungry children. To me that's a no-brainer," said Buis of the
National Farmers Union.
Pelosi said the bill will ensure that Americans send their energy dollars
to the Midwest and across America, instead of the Middle East, and create
good paying jobs here at home.
"The 2007 farm bill encourages the production of biofuels, not only from
corn, but from a variety of crops," said Pelosi. "It boosts our investment
in renewable energy by 600 percent and provides loan guarantees for the
development of refineries that process renewable fuels."
"Energy independence is a national security issue, it is an environmental
issue, and it is an economic issue for our nation and America's families.
Thanks to this farm bill, it will also be an economic solution for
America's farmers. It will create a rural renaissance that will
re-energize farm country and create jobs in small towns across America,"
Pelosi said.
"In the area of conservation, the bill improves access to, and funding
for, initiatives that take environmentally sensitive lands out of
production," said Pelosi. "It encourages environmentally friendly
practices on working lands. And it will invest 30 percent more to preserve
farm and ranchland, improve water quality, enhance soil conservation, air
quality, and wildlife habitat on working lands."
While environmentalists acknowledged these advances, some said they will
go nowhere because there is not enough funding in the bill to support
them.
"As the bill currently stands, the Conservation Security Program will not
be able to accept new enrollments for the life of this farm bill, cutting
off support for many environmentally conscientious farmers and ranchers
who are striving to achieve the highest levels of conservation stewardship
on their land," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of
Defenders of Wildlife and head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
the Clinton administration.
"The Grasslands Reserve Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives
Program are also funded well below urgently needed levels," said Clark.
"We are disappointed that the House opted against adopting several
measures offered on the floor to increase conservation funding."
Clark is now looking to the Senate, which is expected to begin considering
its version of the Farm Bill in September. "We urge the Senate to secure
the funding increases necessary to provide the full suite of conservation
programs to farmers and ranchers who wish to improve their stewardship
practices and to protect and enhance wildlife habitat on their land."
Organic farmers too say more funding is needed to support their work, and
they are appealing to the Senate to increase their share of the pie.
"The House version of the Farm Bill is a positive step in the right
direction," said Steve Ela, a certified organic farmer and president of
the Organic Farming Research Foundation. "However, we now must turn to the
Senate and advocate that a fair share of funding resources be allocated to
organic research and education initiatives. The investment in research,
certification cost sharing and education is vital to assist U.S. farmers
to develop the knowledge base to meet the demand for organics."
The National Organic Certification Cost Share Program helps defray the
cost of organic certification for farmers up to 75 percent of the total
cost, to a maximum of $750. The program was reauthorized with mandatory
funding of $22 million for the life of the Farm Bill, an increase of $5
million from the 2002 Farm Bill, but less than the $25 million that Ela
says organic farmers need.
A separate program, the Agricultural Management Assistance Program,
provides $5 million in supplemental funding for organic certification
cost-share in 17 states.
Some cattlemen too are disappointed in the bill as it now stands. The
Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America,
R-CALF USA, has been lobbying hard for country-of-origin labeling, COOL,
that the group says is needed to distinguish American beef from beef in
countries that have higher levels of mad cow disease.
"R-CALF is pleased with the outcome of COOL legislation, which will move
us closer to implementation and which also lessens the possibility that
USDA will again try to undermine the law," said R-CALF COOL Committee
Chair Mike Schultz.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said the group was disappointed to learn that
House rules prevented Representative Barbara Cubin, a Wyoming Republican,
from introducing her amendment to ban cattle and beef imports from
countries with ongoing problems with mad cow disease, known formally as
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE.
"Cubin's amendment would minimize food safety risks from BSE-affected
countries and strengthen U.S. import restrictions, which would boost
confidence among U.S. export customers," Bullard said. "Our export
customers have imposed some very stringent restrictions on U.S. beef
exports, not because we have a continuing BSE problem, but rather because
we continue to import the BSE problem into this country from Canada."
"R-CALF will immediately work to see if we can get this amendment included
in the Senate version of the Farm Bill, and work to have it as a
stand-alone piece of legislation in the U.S. House," Bullard said. "This
is a very important issue to the U.S. cattle industry, so we're going to
pursue it aggressively, as our members have directed us to."
Some other provisions of the 2007 Farm Bill as passed today by the U.S.
House of Representatives:
• The Chesapeake Bay Program for Nutrient Reduction and Sediment Control
includes $150 million in new mandatory funding and directs the Secretary
of Agriculture to develop a comprehensive plan for restoring, preserving,
and protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed starting with the Susquehanna,
Shenandoah, Patuxent, and Potomac Rivers.
The program authorizes restoration enhancement and preservation cost-share
projects that would help achieve the mutual goals of nutrient reduction
and sediment control.
• The $25 million Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Conservation Planning Pilot
Program undertakes comprehensive conservation planning to assist producers
before they submit an application for conservation assistance.
• The bill authorizes the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, EQIP,
clarifying forest land as eligible for the program, and provides $8.6
billion over five years. EQIP offers financial and technical help to
assist farmers install or implement structural and management practices on
eligible agricultural land.
• The bill reauthorizes the Healthy Forests Reserve Program and provides
$17 million a year for five years. Participants agree to conserve and
manage endangered species habitat and in exchange, they are protected from
additional regulatory burdens.
• The bill establishes a new program, the Emergency Forest Restoration
Program, to assist private forest owners with restoration following
disasters such as gypsy moth infestations, hurricanes and wildfires.
• $100 million was authorized for the Emergency Food Assistance Program,
which provides food to states for distribution to needy families. Most of
the food distribution is accomplished through food banks and soup
kitchens.
• The bill authorizes $995 million for the Farmland Protection Program,
which provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep
productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses.
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