From Debbie Neustadt

With Congress coming back from recess, I thought I would recap where the
Farm Bill is and what/who the players are.

The Combest Bill passed out of committee before the recess. I have
posted the problems with the bill. The Sierra Club is working on a
letter to congress and once it is finalized I will post it. This letter
explains in detail what we don't like about the house bill.
Representative Kind and Gilgrest have offered an alternative that is
called the Working Lands Bill. The Sierra Club supports this bill. The
Conservation Security Act, which the Sierra Club supports  has also been
introduced but is opposed by House Ag leadership.

The Conservation Security Act has a better chance in the Senate where
its sponsor, Senator Harkin is the chair of the Senate Agriculture
Committee. The following is an edited version of an article from
Feedstuffs Magazine regarding the Farm Bill.


Feedstuffs Magazine
Inside Washington
By SALLY SCHUFF
Feedstuffs Washington Editor
September 3, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congress returns to Washington this week from its
August
recess, and despite all the rhetoric about moving defense and education
spending bills first, watch for a fast-moving agenda on several
agricultural
issues.

Budget pressure will  push action on the new farm bill -- maybe.
Watch for a major attempt on the floor to drastically increase spending
--
shifting funds from commodity programs -- for conservation payments to
farmers. The bill to watch is HR 2375, the Working Lands Stewardship
Act,
proposed by Reps. Ron Kind (D., Wis.) from the Upper Mississippi region
and
Wayne Gilchrest (R., Md.) from the Chesapeake Bay region.

Their bill seeks more than $6 billion in annual incentive payments to
farmers to reduce polluted run-off and restore wildlife habitat along
U.S.
waterways. At last count, it had more than 120 co-sponsors, many from
coastal states with substantial political clout, and the support of
several
environmental groups -- including the Environmental Defense and American

Rivers.

Farm bill action in the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected
quickly.
There, the big question will also be a policy debate on status-quo
commodity
payments versus a conservation payment agenda.

Conservation payments have support from lawmakers whose states don’t
benefit
from the billions of dollars that currently only go to growers of
program
commodity crops. They see conservation payments as a more equitable way
to
dispense farm payments while buying environmental benefits.

Conservation payments are also classified as "green box" payments for
WTO
purposes and would help the U.S. comply with its subsidy reduction
commitments.

However, taking dollars from states with heavy commodity programs
payments
and spreading them to other regions would essentially amount to a
redistribution of wealth from farm programs and will be hazardous
politically, any way you look at it.

It’s going to be a long fall.

Copyright 2001, The Miller Publishing Company, a company of Rural Press
Ltd.

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