SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COALITION
For Immediate
Release
 Contact: Ferd Hoefner
April 18,
2002
         202-547-5754

COALITION PRAISES HOUSE PAYMENT LIMIT VOTE

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition commended the House for
overwhelming
passage of a motion to instruct the farm bill conferees to accept the
Senate
payment limitation reform proposal.  The vote was 265 to 158.

“Two-thirds of the Senate is on record in support of a $275,000 payment
limitation,” said Ferd Hoefner, Washington Representative for the
Coalition.
“Now the House has spoken clearly – the final farm bill must include
real
payment limitation reform.”

Immediately after the House floor vote the farm bill conferees convened
and
the House placed a new payment limit proposal on the table that moved in
the
opposite direction from the reform vote on the floor.

“The new proposal from the House conferees is not reform,” said
Hoefner.
“The House conferees’ offer has no limit whatsoever on marketing loan
gains.”

The Senate bill caps ‘fixed’ and ‘counter cyclical’ payments at $75,000
The
House conferees propose a cap on fixed payments of $80,000 and a
separate
counter cyclical payment cap of $130,000.  The Senate bill caps
‘marketing
loan gains’ and ‘loan deficiency payments’ at $150,000.  The House
conferees
propose a nominal $150,000, that is actually no effective limit at all
because generic certificate payments would be without any cap.  The
Senate
bill reforms the “actively engaged in farming” rules to ensure that
rental
and custom farming arrangements cannot be manipulated to avoid
limitations,
while making exceptions for widows and disabled farmers.  The House
conferees
propose to stay with the ineffective status quo on actively engaged
rules,
allowing payment limitation avoidance to continue unabated.

“No one should be fooled by the number game,” according to Hoefner.
“The
House conferees suggest they have compromised, when in fact they started
with
unlimited payments and they are sticking with that position.  They
should
stop playing games and take heed of the sentiment of 265 of their
colleagues.”


The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition represents Midwest-based farm,
rural,
and conservation organizations that advocate public policies supporting
the
long-term economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture,
natural
resources and rural communities.

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