Administration drags feet on new farm bill
By Lori Ehde
In January, new federal budget numbers will be released, and this year's surpluses will be noticeably absent in the updated report.
That's why White House administration is dragging its feet on signing a new farm bill, and congressional representatives in agriculture are pushing to get it done.
"Technically, we have until April to get (federal) money, but realistically, the surplus is already gone," said Gary Wertish of Sen. Mark Dayton's office.
"If we don't get it done now, when the new numbers are released in January, there will be less money to work with."
Wertish is the director of agriculture outreach for Dayton. He was in Luverne Tuesday morning with an update on the pending $170 billion U.S. farm bill.
"We might disagree on what we want in the bill," he said to handful of local producers gathered in City Hall, "but we all agree we want a bill now."
The U.S. Senate is now debating new farm policy legislation which would go into effect in 2003. The House has already passed its version.
Wertish has been meeting in communities around the state since October, listening to input to bring back to Dayton for consideration.
"If he doesn't hear from you, then it's hard for him to know what you want him to support," Wertish said.
He said the most common criticism of the current farm bill is that there needs to be limits on payments and/or lower rates on loan deficiency payments.
Most of the subsidies distributed from the current $90 billion "Freedom to Farm," bill were in the form of LDPs, a federal system that ensures farmers are paid a fair price for grain, despite what the market does.
For example, when the posted county price for corn is $1.42 per bushel, and the contracted LDP price is $1.72, the loan deficiency payment on that bushel is 30 cents.
The more grain a producer harvests, and the more depressed the farm economy, the more the LDP check will be.
"It's all based on production," Wertish said.
He and the local farmers in attendance Tuesday agreed the new farm bill should create more domestic demand for U.S. commodities and less reliance on exports while at the same time establishing fair trade agreements with neighboring borders.
Luverne farmer Harold Tilstra reminded Wertish of the importance of cultivating markets for renewable fuels such as ethanol.
He said 8,000 Minnesota farmers are involved with ethanol production. "For Minnesota, a federal renewable energy bill would be better than a farm bill," Tilstra said.
He asked that Dayton's office work to revise federal tax code so that small and medium-sized ethanol producers can take advantage of tax credits, currently useful only to large energy producers.
Wertish took notes at the meeting and promised to bring that input back to Dayton.
Dayton's Minnesota office is located in the Federal Building, Suite 298, in Fort Snelling, MN 55111. In Washington, the address is 346 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510. The toll-free office number is 1-888-224-9043.