WASHINGTON (May 7, 2008)—The furor over grocery store sticker shock reached a boiling point last Thursday as the Congressional Joint Economic Committee held a hearing to investigate the impact these food prices are having on everyday Americans. Tom Buis, the president of the National Farmers Union, told the Committee that he and all growers sympathize…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Apr. 30, 2008)—With the farm community’s attention focused squarely on finishing the farm bill deliberations, little notice was paid to an important meeting held at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week. Bart Chilton, a CFTC Commissioner, said of the meeting to examine the impact of crop prices on farmers, “Commodity prices are…
DetailsIn the fifth installment of our ongoing series about the unsubstantiated claims from farm policy opponents, Farm Policy Facts will examine a recent claim made by the Bush Administration about the farm bill that’s left a lot of folks on the Hill scratching their heads. Myth: This farm bill does not meet Administration demands and…
DetailsIn the fourth installment of our ongoing series about the unsubstantiated claims by farm policy opponents, Farm Policy Facts will take a closer look at a recent claim made by the Bush Administration about the pending farm bill. Myth: “At a time of record farm incomes, Congress decided to further increase farm subsidy rates.” -Agriculture…
DetailsIn the third installment of our ongoing series about the unsubstantiated claims by farm policy opponents, Farm Policy Facts will examine the relationship between farm payments and food production. Myth: U.S. farm policy benefits corporate agribusinesses at the expense of the family farm. The Truth: Corporate Agribusinesses as you would think of it (global firms…
DetailsIn the second installment of our ongoing series about the unsubstantiated claims by farm policy opponents, Farm Policy Facts will examine the notion that commodity programs break the bank. Myth: Federal farm programs are outrageously expensive and U.S. Taxpayers would benefit from their elimination. The Truth: Commodity programs have always accounted for less than one…
DetailsPresident John Adams once said, “Facts are stubborn things.” Opponents of farm policy obviously didn’t get the memo. During this farm bill, a handful of special interest groups and big city papers have continued to regurgitate numerous myths about farm programs even though the numbers prove these arguments to be blatantly false. Over the next…
DetailsBy: Senator Norm Coleman After months of negotiations, congressional negotiators are on the cusp of a farm bill agreement that’ll provide the framework necessary to quickly complete reauthorization of the nation’s farm policy. This will be the product of a consistent, bipartisan, cross-regional and bicameral effort in Congress. With the spring planting season nearly upon…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Apr. 9, 2008)—“It has become painfully obvious that, even though the 2007 sugarcane crop was a good one in most areas, most growers showed little or no profit,” a well-respected agricultural consultant in southern Louisiana told local ag leaders in a letter last month. According to Dr. Calvin Viator, the letter’s author, input prices…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Apr. 1, 2008)—In April 2002—as Congress was struggling to pass a farm bill-CNN ran a story about high oil prices. Oil futures in New York were $27.38 a barrel at the time of this story, which proclaimed, “[T]he impact of rising wholesale prices since September has already spilled over at the pumps…there appears to…
DetailsBy: Congressman Charlie Melancon My colleague, Congressman Charles Boustany (R), and I recently hosted “Farm Day 2008” in Louisiana, where we heard from members of the state’s agricultural community. The one issue that came up over and over again during the program was getting past partisan bickering in DC and getting a farm bill passed…
DetailsBelow is a letter from a concerned citizen and farmer who shared his comments on the debate on the pending farm bill. Dear Farm Policy Facts, As an active participant in the farm policy debate it would be appropriate to say a few words to the folks on Capitol Hill before they make their final…
DetailsEaster candy is big business. Americans are projected to spend $1.9 billion to fill Easter baskets with sweet treats this year, says the National Retail Federation. A survey conducted by the group estimates that shoppers will fork over, on average, $18.12 for Easter candy—up from $14.40 just five years earlier. In other words, shoppers seem…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Mar. 21, 2008)—Though U.S. shoppers still pay far less for their food than shoppers in any other country, opponents of farm policy who once complained about low commodity prices are now taking aim at family farmers for higher prices at checkout lines. They claim that some farmers’ recent good fortunes are to blame for…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Mar. 17, 2008)—Any farmer can tell you that thriving in rural America is more than just having the right equipment and an available workforce. One of the most important tools available to America’s farmers and ranchers—among the smartest and savviest businessmen and women anywhere in the world—is education and access to information. But for…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Mar. 13, 2008)—Growing frustrated and worried about the endless stalemate over the farm bill, U.S. farmers and ranchers are calling on Congress to put differences aside in the interest of quickly passing a bill with a safety net that reflects the best of both the House and Senate passed bills. “It has been eight…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Mar. 11, 2008)—Members of the Texas Congressional delegation could start receiving a lot of farm bill letters from people in the Houston area who depend on local hunger relief groups. That’s because the Houston Food Bank has issued a “Call to Action” to get the pending farm bill passed soon. A template Congressional letter…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb. 14, 2008)—Forty-two farm groups today sent a letter to leaders from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees expressing concern that a farm bill proposal unveiled earlier this week is “seriously under-funded.” House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ranking Member Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced the new farm bill package, which was drafted…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb. 11, 2008)—More than 20 farm organization told lawmakers today that they oppose including provisions in a final version of farm bill that “fall outside” of the provisions contained in the versions approved by the House and Senate. “We fully believe the new farm bill must not be shortchanged,” the farm groups, including the…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Feb. 7, 2008)—Although it has been nearly two months since the U.S. Senate approved a farm bill by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote, and over a half-a-year since the House approved its version, efforts to protect tax shelters and loopholes that raise taxes on everyone else continues to threaten successful completion of a farm bill.…
DetailsORLANDO, FL. (Feb. 5, 2008)—As bleak as the budget situation looks for the farm bill right now, “it doesn’t get any better beyond 2008,” a policy analyst with Informa Economics told sugarbeet farmers at their annual convention today. A number of issues—from a shrinking budget baseline to a growing budget deficit, a slumping economy, increased…
DetailsWheat farmers fed up with hunger are showing that community comes first with a Pendleton, Oregon-based program called Bushels for Betsy. Tom Winn, a former administrator of the Oregon Wheat Commission, started Bushels for Betsy, which he named after his daughter. Through the program – a cooperative partnership of the Oregon Wheat Foundation, Pendleton Flour…
DetailsWashington (Jan. 29, 2008)—Farmers and ranchers from across the country are urging Congress and the President to quickly pass a strong new farm bill as part of their economic stimulus agenda. “When our manufacturing sector went into a tailspin earlier this decade, the Wall Street Journal reported that a strong agriculture sector was helping hold…
DetailsNEW ORLEANS (Jan. 17, 2008)—The message coming out of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual conference held here this week was crystal clear: farmers have already sacrificed a lot in the farm bill and should not be the source of additional funding cuts. The farm bills passed by the House and Senate “represent significant reform,”…
DetailsWashington (Jan. 16, 2008)—Most priorities championed during the writing of the new farm bill received funding increases. There was more money for conservation, for nutrition programs and for renewable energy priorities. There was additional funding for research, the marketing of fruits and vegetables and even pest and disease eradication. The vote has been hailed by…
DetailsSoaring commodity prices…farm incomes on the rise…increasing land values…banks happy to cash-flow farming operations. Most people involved in writing the new farm bill might read those phrases and think it’s a description of current situation in rural America. It’s not; it’s a description of the years leading up to the farm crisis of the 1980s.…
DetailsBy: John Thaemert, President, National Association of Wheat Growers It’s been a rough and tumble week for markets around the world and, in Washington, President Bush and Congressional leaders have finally found something they can agree on-the need for an economic stimulus package. Those of us in the farm community have been working on a…
DetailsU.S. farm programs were recently being attacked by big-city editorial boards and farm policy critics for keeping commodity prices too low and, thus, harming developing countries. Now, with many agricultural commodity prices on an upswing, these same groups are complaining that prices are too high and, thus, harming developing countries. Oxfam—the group that dropped $225,000…
DetailsWashington (Dec. 19, 2007)—Organizations representing most farmers in America sent a letter today to key legislators asking them to “complete a conference report to the Farm Bill by no later than late January or early February.” “Based upon the exceptional work of both the House and the Senate, we are confident that a strong new…
DetailsIn early January, thousands of farmers and ranchers from Hawaii, California, North Dakota, the Carolinas, and everywhere in between boarded planes, trains and buses to make the trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in New Orleans. The state’s agricultural community gladly welcomed our colleagues, who produce just about everything everyday citizens put…
DetailsWashington (Dec. 14, 2007)—Farmers and ranchers today applauded as the Senate passed the 2007 farm bill by a bipartisan vote of 79 to 14. The final package did not include the harmful amendments designed to gut the farm safety net, cripple farmers’ crop insurance, and slash farm benefits. “Wheat growers have been waiting for this…
DetailsWashington (Dec. 12, 2007)—Groups representing farmers from coast to coast sent a letter to every Senator this morning asking them to “protect what it has taken 25 years to build” and to vote against the crop insurance amendment proposed by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), John Sununu (R- N.H.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “The Senate Agriculture…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Dec. 12, 2007)—Farmers and ranchers applauded as the Senate soundly defeated a farm bill amendment by Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) to gut the farm safety net. The amendment, which fell on a 58 to 37 vote, was almost identical to a similar amendment offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and…
DetailsWASHINGTON (Dec. 11, 2007)—Former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest urged Senators to finish their work on the farm bill before adjourning for the year and not let amendments bog down the process in a speech delivered today to the Farm Journal Forum. “For all of the Senators who say that they care about the…
DetailsExcerpt from a Dec. 11 Statement on the Senate Floor The critics say only 43 percent of all farms received payments. The critics say that 57 percent of farms unfairly operate without a safety net. The critics say the largest 8 percent of all farms receive 58 percent of the farm program benefits. <[Such statements]…
DetailsWe were wrong: Not all big-city newspapers oppose the farm bill. In a stunning about-face, the editorial board at The Boston Globe urged lawmakers this week to quickly pass the stalled farm bill because of its vital nutrition programs. “Congress should pass the Farm Bill,” the newspaper wrote. “The House has passed a version, but…
DetailsExcerpt from Dec. 3 Speech by Larry Combest to USA Rice Federation Now, I suppose it is possible, and perhaps it is even probable, that short term extensions of current law may continue to take place until the full five year Farm Bill is completed. This would certainly provide farm families with at least some…
DetailsWashington (Nov. 28, 2007)—Nineteen agricultural groups wrote to the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate today to ask that they complete work on the pending farm bill rather than extending current farm policy. “Extending current law could also result in a substantial reduction in the funding available for writing the next farm bill,” the…
DetailsWashington (Nov. 28, 2007)—Groups representing most Louisiana farmers today wrote members of the state’s Congressional delegation to urge them to expedite passage of the 2007 farm bill and oppose efforts to extend the current bill. “Louisiana’s farm community is deeply concerned about the delay in approving the 5-year reauthorization of U.S. farm policy,” the groups…
DetailsWashington (Nov. 20, 2007)—Twenty-six organizations representing farmers and ranchers from coast to coast are calling upon the U.S. Senate to oppose an effort to gut the safety net provided to America’s farmers in the 2007 farm bill. The November 16 letter urged Senators to oppose the Farm, Ranch, Equity, Stewardship and Health (FRESH) Act (S.…
Details