American Corn Growers Submit Farm Bill Plan to House Agriculture Subcommittee
"We need farm policy that provides a price to farm families rather than subsidies, an adequate strategic reserve of storable food and feed commodities and a way to curb overproduction of crops traditionally in surplus so that we can plant new dedicated energy producing crops to help the nation move toward energy independence,"Â explained Larry Mitchell, Chief Executive of ACGA as he testified before Chairman Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., Ranking Member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and members of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management of the House Committee on Agriculture.
"Most, if not all members of this subcommittee have publicly stated on many occasions that the new farm bill will be drafted by the agriculture committees of the U.S. Congress and not at the World Trade Organization (WTO),"said Mitchell. "We do not challenge you to do so, because we know you will do so. We are here to help you, and once we have done so, then let's take this plan to the WTO because this plan does exactly what has been advocated by the WTO "it eliminates subsidies, addresses the issue of overproduction and helps establish better prices for farmers around the world."
Mitchell urged consideration of the plan, titled the Food from Family Farms Act, which has been cowritten and endorsed by the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) and sixty other organizations. The plan calls for the:
Reestablishment of the non-recourse loan program to provide a floor price for the major, strategic commodities and relieve the burden of tens of billions of dollars in subsidies from the shoulders of America's taxpayers.
Establishment of a Strategic National Grain Reserve, including the reestablishment of the Farmer Owned Reserve (FOR) for Domestic Food Security,Domestic Energy Security, andInternational Famine Relief. Reauthorization of the Secretary's authority to manage over-production and price-depressing surpluses by providing incentives to plant dedicated energy crops on acres which are now, or may be, produced in surplus. This could be accomplished by establishment of a biomass reserve program similar and apart from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to provide incentives for the production and processing of biomass energy use. The new farm bill should also include:
Retention and expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP),
Full funding and deployment of the Conservation Security Program (CSP),
Expansion of the Energy Title of the farm bill,
Establishment of a standing disaster program,
Development of a Cellulosic Reserve Program,
Extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC),
Inclusion of a competition title similar to Senator Tom Harkin's Agricultural Fair Practices Act,
Implementation of the current Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) provision of the 2002 farm bill, and
Improved delivery and full funding of programs targeted toward limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
ACGA also warned that until we know what programs will be contained in the new farm bill or how it will be administered, and until Farm Service Agency (FSA) computer problems have been mitigated, it is ill-advised to reduce the FSA farm program delivery platform.
"We urge Congress to postpone any county office closures or reductions in staff until after the farm bill has been passed, enacted and deployed and that a real solution to the antiquated computer system are likewise deployed, added Mitchell. "We also commend and support Representative Stephanie Herseth's legislation (H.R 1649) to prevent the closure of FSA offices for 12 months after enactment of the new farm bill. The delay would ensure that no final decisions are made until the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, thereby ensuring a better understanding of staffing demands on county offices under that new law."
"We ask all farmers to take a serious look at what is being proposed for the next farm bill and who is making the proposals," concluded Mitchell. "It is imperative that we understand how important it is for all of us to ensure the crafting of a farm bill that works for farmers, rural communities, taxpayers, consumers, the environment and all stakeholders. ACGA sees the need for better prices paid to farmers from the marketplace, less reliance on taxpayer dollars and the need to address the economic and political sustainability of the next farm bill."
As a basis for drafting the Food from Family Farm Act, ACGA drew heavily from the findings contained in the study, Rethinking U.S. Agriculture Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide, by the Agriculture Policy Analysis Center (APAC), part of the University of Tennessee, a land-grant university. ACGA initiated the study over five years ago and it was completed in Sept. 2003. The study was submitted as part of ACGA's written testimony.
ACGA represents 14,000 members in 35 states. ACGA has standing bylaws that prohibits the organization from accepting funding from corporate agriculture. That means that ACGA represents farmers -- not seed, chemical, food processing, grain trading or crop insurance companies. For more information, to see the full ACGA testimony, for a copy of Rethinking U.S. Agriculture Policy, or if you would like to join ACGA or help support our efforts, please see visit our website listed below.
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