Farm Bill Progressing

  With a tremendous national budget debt, Congress is forced to examine all current and pending legislation to search for ways to reduce and allocate funding to every federally funded program, and agriculture legislation is no exception.  

The Senate Agriculture Committee passed legislation April 26 to authorize new farm programs effective until September 2017 while reducing our federal deficit $23 billion as part of its 2012 Farm Bill package. Its recommendations now reside with the full Senate and await a possible vote and amendments.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 is considered to be the earliest incarnation of the Farm Bill, passed during the Great Depression to assist farmers during extreme weather-induced losses. Recognizing the role of American farmers as providers of food, feed, fuel and fiber, the federal government has historically provided assistance to farmers to protect against market volatility and other operational challenges.

Though the majority of the public considers the bill as farmer-focused, its policies and programs support food security, nutrition/food programs, the environment, energy initiatives, food aid and the development of rural America.

As with all legislation, there is opposition. The House of Representatives are in the process of drafting their own proposal with reported reductions of at least $33 billion.

Because the current Farm Bill, which has a five-year lifespan, expires September 30, the House and Senate will eventually have to compromise for the implementation of new farm legislation before this date, or Congress will be faced with the proposition of some sort of extension of current law.

Though the bill addresses all programs, the summary below is specific to commodity crops. You may access the summary of the Farm Bill committee print at www.ag.senate.gov/issues/farm-bill.

The most prominent aspect of the Senate ag committee’s proposed bill is the elimination of direct payments (subsidies to farmers based on historical production without regard to current prices or yields).

The other major component is its focus on crop insurance programs. Crop insurance continues to be recognized as one the most accepted forms of public policy support for commodity crop farmers. The bill requires this focus because of its removal of the direct-payment structure as a safety-net feature for farmers. With a shift to a market-driven insurance system from a government-directed system, strengthened crop insurance programs will serve as the primary safety-net mechanism for farmers with this version of the bill. 

The bill introduces a new revenue program named the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), to complement crop insurance programs, as its other main feature pertaining to commodity growers. Agriculture.com summarizes this program well.

Major Features (Farm Bill Markup Summary)

•    Eliminates direct payments to save $5 billion.

•    Savings would be invested in a new revenue insurance program (ARC) designed to complement crop insurance and protect farmers against multi-year losses caused by low prices or poor yields. Crop insurance would continue to be the tool used to protect against larger losses.

•    Payments would be capped at $50,000 per person or $100,000 for married couples.

•    Enforces stricter requirements that payment recipients be “actively engaged” in farming operations.

A news author reminds us of the significance of this vital bill:

“There are many reasons public support for agriculture is critical to rural economies, to the security and stability of our nation’s food supply and to the American public. The point isn’t to argue that support should be eliminated or even reduced; with 2 percent of the nation’s population producing all of the food, society has a strong interest in providing a safety net for this tiny minority.”

Let’s hope that the House can work with the same diligence as the Senate to achieve legislation that is mindful of the progress made thus far, to continue a speedy path to approval. 

 Photo obtained from: croplife.com 

 

Going green, it’s easier than it looks

Consumers and businesses now have an easier way to “go green." Thanks to the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, the BioPreferred program was created, which helps to increase the purchase and use of environmentally friendly, biobased products.

Biobased products are commercial or industrial products that are composed mainly of biological resources including agriculturally derived, renewable resources such as corn or soybeans.

Managed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the BioPreferred program includes a preferred-procurement program for federal agencies and their contractors, as well as a voluntary labeling program for the broad-scale consumer marketing of biobased products.

This program designates biobased products that are required for purchase by federal agencies and their contractors. This allows companies to purchase biopreferred versions of the items that they already use. Soon, biobased products that meet the BioPreferred program requirements will be given a label to make it easily identifiable for businesses and consumers to select these items.

There is a software tool available to help federal procurement officers choose what products are both good for the environment and affordable, BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability). The BEES tool used by the USDA also helps biobased manufacturers learn about the impact that their products have on the environment and on their costs.

In an article by CM Magazine, Ron Buckhalt, program manager for BioPreferred discussed the labeling program. He stated that the labeling program would have green-eligible products stamped with an approved USDA label, much like the Energy Star system for electronics. The eligibility hasn’t been determined at this point. Buckhalt said that whatever the product’s bio-component level is it should be the industry standard.

“Companies don’t have the capability to go too high (regarding the product’s bio-component), but we could be looking at 30 percent,” he said.

Each month, BioPreferred features an item to promote. For March, the BioLink™ General Purpose Cleaner is highlighted for being “tough on grime, not the environment.” Working as effective as traditional cleaners, BioLink exchanges alcohol and petroleum-based solvents for non-toxic biobased materials.

There are numerous biobased products, from cleaning supplies to office supplies that consumers and businesses can use to better their environment. For the complete catalog, please visit: http://www.catalog.biopreferred.gov.

Ohio recently became the first and only state to initiate this program.

Recently, Gov. Ted Strickland signed Senate Bill 131, which establishes a bioproducts-preferred purchasing program. Modeled after the federal program, it will allow the state to use considerable purchasing power to support the growth of businesses that create bioproducts, as well as expand the market for other innovative products made from Ohio crops.

S.B. 131 will rely on the federal bioproducts list to determine what products should get preference in Ohio. Several Ohio companies are already developing plastics, paints, polymer foam and other innovative products from corn, soybeans and other renewable materials.

In a recent Marion Star article, Karen Gillmor, R-Tiffin, who sponsored S.B. 131, talked about how this bill would help stimulate investment and jobs, as well as enhance research opportunities at Ohio colleges and universities. This would help Ohio farmers and agriculture production in Ohio.

“Thanks to recent advances in research and technology, acres of soybeans, corn and other agriculture resources growing across Ohio have the tremendous potential to transform our state into a center for bioproducts development in this country, breathe much-needed life into our economy and create a market for good-paying jobs in our local communities,” said Gillmor, who is also a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

What are your thoughts about the BioPreferred program? Should more states be following in Ohio’s footsteps? How can the agriculture industry use this legislation to its advantage?