Passed every five to seven years, the Farm Bill is a historic, far-reaching piece of legislation that impacts every American.
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.
Since its inception, its vast array of policies/programs has supported food security, nutrition/food programs, the environment, energy initiatives, food aid and the development of rural America.
A huge misconception exists in the minds of countless of Americans — The Farm Bill is simply legislation that permits direct payments to farmers—fixed per-acre payments based on a farm’s historic production of eligible crops regardless of yield amount.
In reality, 75 percent of the bill is devoted to funding for social and nutrition programs (such as food stamps), not farmer-insurance supports for times of market volatility and other operational challenges.
And, Farm Bill supports aren’t automatic. Farmers must opt-in for eligibility in Farm Bill programs.
The Farm Bill is controversial for multiple reasons. Many Americans don’t feel that farmers and producers should receive monetary assistance when other industries don’t receive the same types of protection, though farm programs are only 1 percent of the federal budget.
"(The farm industry) shouldn't be expecting help from the federal government when prices are good and when they have a good harvest," said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio in a Lancaster Gazette story.
Some believe that the bill is a hodgepodge of too many items, so its complexity clouds the vital issues with too many auxiliary items. The Farm Bill contains 15 titles including commodity-price and income supports, farm credit, trade, agricultural conservation, research, rural development, energy and foreign and domestic food and other nutrition programs.
“The farm bill is just one big earmark,” said Sallie James, a trade policy analyst with the Cato Institute.
Add the dire federal budget deficit and the Farm Bill is compacted further.
“It won’t be a matter of creating grandiose new programs,” said House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. Frank Lucas. “The question will be what programs do we save…How do we reconfigure things so as to try and achieve more with fewer dollars?”
There are several suggestions from commentators in the public discourse.
Popular Farm Bill Proposals
- Completely eliminate direct payments (reinvests $5 billion in the federal budget)
- Terminate biofuels subsidies
- Strengthen the safety net
- Strengthen crop insurance programs
- Transition to a revenue-based market system
Given the current weather conditions, the need for a safety net for our nation’s food producers is more apparent than ever.
There are 32 states with some type of federal disaster declaration, as reported in a KFGO (Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota, radio station) story. "If there was ever evidence that we need an effective farm safety net, this is it," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow.
Conversations within the coming months will shape the policies and programs of the 2012 Farm Bill. Let’s hope that legislators remain cognizant of the necessity of a domestically produced, safe, affordable, sustainable, abundant food supply.
"Europe has a strategy and they want to dominate world agriculture," he said. "We have to spend money wisely and we have to fight for our agriculture base," said U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. in a Prairie Star story.
What concerns you most about the future of the Farm Bill? What should it keep? Eliminate?
Photo obtained from: americanforests.org
Because corn, soybeans and wheat are the agriculture industry’s major players, these crops most often come to mind when one thinks about farming.
Major products are corn (28 percent of industry revenue); soybeans (14 percent); fruits and nuts (12 percent) and wheat (7 percent). Other major crops include vegetables and melons, cotton, and potatoes. Of all farms, 48 percent are grain, oilseed, or dry beans/peas, accounting for 53 percent of all cropland revenue (Research and Markets).
But, specialty crops are an avenue of farming that can get overlooked. Our nation has a $50 billion specialty-crop industry with 247,772 specialty crop farms.
Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, nursery crops and maple syrup, which are of exceptional value now.
As the USDA states, “Specialty crops are a big part of what makes our seasonal holidays memorable. It’s difficult to find anything on the table that isn’t the result of the work of specialty crop growers—from potatoes, cranberry sauce, wine and pumpkin, or sweet potato pie to the nutmeg, cinnamon and herbs that season the dishes. And don’t forget the decorations—from Christmas trees and wreaths to mistletoe and poinsettias, all grown by U.S. specialty crop growers.”
Specialty crops are more labor-intensive and require more start-up costs compared to field crops, they come with more financial risk, though annual specialty crops, like pumpkins and sugarbeets, show an increased per-acre profit compared to field crops.
Because of this crop sector’s associated risks, USDA grants are providing funding to individuals and groups for projects to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. In total, 28 grants will be awarded. According to a news release distributed by UC Davis:
“In all, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded more than $46 million through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, established by the 2008 Farm Bill to develop and disseminate science-based tools to address the needs of specific specialty crops.”
The grants invest in the research, promotion, marketing, food safety, education and product development of specialty crops.
Such grants have been awarded to improve lettuce varieties, water irrigation systems, and to develop a commercial brand pumpkin seed, among others.
The Buckeye State touts its fair share of the specialty crop industry.
Ohio Specialty Crops Facts (2007 Census of Agriculture)
- 6,472 total specialty crop farms
- 82,335 specialty crop acres
- 600 maple syrup farms
- 996 cut Christmas trees and short rotation woody crop farms
To view a list of 2009 grants awarded to bolster Ohio’s specialty crops, visit:
http://www.agri.ohio.gov/divs/SustainableAg/SpecialtyCrops/SpecialtyCrops.aspx.
As we continue to celebrate the holidays, what specialty crops are you using in your dishes? What specialty crops do you routinely eat? What specialty-crop projects would be a good investment for Ohio?
Photo obtained from: today.colostate.edu
Taking care of “cluck cluck” costs a lot of “cha-ching.”
But, new rules are in the works to improve fairness in the marketplace for America’s poultry producers.
Agriculture businesses are expensive to launch; extensive equipment, buildings, machinery, labor and animal costs add up.
Now, financial risks could be far less for one of agriculture’s most important sectors.
Most producers take out loans to build and maintain their farms, then sign contracts with poultry processors (Tyson Foods, Perdue and others) to produce specified amounts of chicken.
Poultry processors are at liberty to terminate contracts if they deem a producer is not abiding by required equipment/building upgrades.
As the cost of animal-production increases, stemming from increased energy and alleged animal-feed costs, coupled with a declining demand, poultry producers’ pocketbooks are taking the hit. The downturn has lead to reduced poultry orders, a decline in renewed poultry contracts and the termination of poultry-processing plants.
According to the USDA, Americans who participated in the Obama Administration’s Rural Tour stops throughout the country expressed concern about the financial implications of poultry farmers and the lack of oversight of the nation’s poultry processors.
Since then, the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) released new antitrust provisions to the 2008 Farm Bill to address the feedback.
"Concerns about a lack of fairness and commonsense treatment for poultry producers have gone unaddressed far too long," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement. "This proposed rules will help ensure a level playing field for producers by providing additional protections against unfair practices and addressing new market conditions not covered by existing rules."
Some of the proposed rules as published include:
- Establish new protections for producers required to provide expensive capital upgrades to their growing facilities, including protections to ensure producers have the opportunity to recoup 80 percent of the cost of a required capital investment.
- Provide poultry growers with a written notice of a company’s intent to suspend the delivery of birds as confirmed in a poultry-growing arrangement at least 90 days prior to the date it intends to suspend the delivery.
- Improve market transparency by making sample contracts (except for trade secrets or other confidential information) be made available at GIPSA’s website for producers.
- Improve competition in markets by limiting exclusive arrangements between packers and dealers.
"The USDA has never gone this far before in what are unfair practices," said Becky Ceartas of Rural Advancement Foundation International.
However, some believe the proposals are not justified.
“The regulation was clearly drafted to satisfy a small number of activist growers and will do nothing to enhance the business of the great majority of broiler producers who are satisfied with the current system," stated The National Chicken Council in a news release.
GIPSA will consider public comments via e-mail (comments.gipsa@usda.gov) received by August 23, 2010.
Do you feel that this industry is deserving of the new regulations? Are there other methods that can be used to financially safeguard chicken producers?
*Photo obtained from: www.britannica.com
