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Agri-Pulse: Conner predicts "seamless transition” at USDA
By Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse Editor In his first major press conference since being named Acting Secretary of Agriculture last week, Chuck Conner emphasized Monday that he is ready and willing to assume his new role, predicting a “seamless transition," in the leadership of USDA. “Mike Johanns gave me the good fortune, from the day I walked into this place, of letting me be involved in every decision that came before this department, without fail, every decision policy-wise, every decision personnel-wise. I was sitting there beside him at the table making a joint decision..... I had no disagreement with any of those decisions, not one in the period of time that we were here.” A Benton County, Indiana farm boy, he was a long-time Senate staff worker who also served as chief of staff of the Senate Agriculture Committee, before heading the Corn Refiners Association for four years. Conner, 49, became President Bush's agriculture advisor in 2001, and represented the administration in negotiations with Congress on the 2002 farm bill. He declined to say whether he thought Bush would nominate him to be secretary, which would require Senate confirmation, and focused on a series of pressing issues confronting the department. Here’s an overview: • Conner said he will press the Senate to begin farm bill mark-up which Chairman Harkin has signaled he intends to do within a few weeks. “The President is eager to sign a farm bill this year; I will do everything I can to ensure that a farm bill will be passed that he can be proud of and deliver to his desk that he can sign.” Conner said "key, key reforms" in the farm bill should include revenue protection, "gap" policies for losses not covered by crop insurance, and a ban on crop subsidies to people with adjusted gross income above $200,000 a year. Lawmakers should also end the "pick your price" abuse of loan deficiency payments, Conner said. "Our message...is going to be a pretty simple one," Conner said. "A reform-oriented farm bill." • USDA will decide "probably within two or three weeks" whether to release land from the Conservation Reserve Program to expand U.S. crop output. Conner said USDA is monitoring this year's harvest and the possible need for land for 2008 crops • Food safety, and particularly import safety, is going to continue to get a lot of attention. USDA will host a public comment session next week on October 1 in conjunction with the Import Safety Working Group partners, chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. • Trade issues in general are going to remain a top priority for this agency. “We want American producers to have every opportunity to reach new markets and expand their participation in existing export markets. The pending four free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Korea constitute a huge step in the right direction. It is critically important to American agriculture that Congress ratify these agreements,” he emphasized.. Describing beef trade as a "foremost" issue, Conner said. "We will continue to press these countries to conduct trade in accordance with these international science-based standards," he said. © Copyright Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or distribution in any form is prohibited without consent from Editor Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. 5N985 Rt. #31, St. Charles, IL. 60175. Phone: (630) 443-3257. Fax: (630) 443-3258. A one-year subscription rate (48 issues) is $397.00. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: Agripulse@aol.com or visit: www.Agri- Pulse.com. Editor's note: For more stories and a free, four-week trial subscription, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
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