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Farm bill is big win for DakotasWASHINGTON (AP)--It almost didn't happen at all, but the farm bill passed by Congress in mid-May is a big win for the Dakotas. The legislation includes a permanent disaster aid program that will pay farmers when crops are destroyed by weather. It raises loan rates and target prices for several Northern Plains crops. It will require fresh meats and other foods to be labeled with their country of origin, which will help northern ranchers compete against Canada. All of those issues have been priorities for the Dakotas' congressional delegations since the last farm bill became law in 2002. They got almost everything they wanted. Sen. Kent Conrad and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) were two of the lead negotiators in several months of contentious talks that fell apart several times as President Bush threatened to veto the bill over its cost. They were finally victorious this week when both chambers of Congress passed the legislation with enough votes to override him. Like farm bills of the past, the massive, $290 billion bill was a delicate balance between urban and rural members, lawmakers from different regions of the country and Republicans and Democrats. Along with Montana Sen. Max Baucus, Conrad and Pomeroy fought many attempts to eliminate the disaster aid program. Members from other states less affected by drought in recent years didn't see why it was needed, saying it was too expensive and subject to abuse by farmers who would plant on land that shouldn't be farmed. But Conrad and other supporters of the disaster aid appeased those critics by reducing the cost from $5 billion in the Senate bill to $3.8 billion in the final agreement, shifting some of that money to nutrition and restricting the program to those farmers who had losses throughout their farms, and not just to one crop. The final product, said Conrad, is better than emergency money that farm-state members have had to fight for in recent years. "As opposed to previous ad hoc disaster programs, this standing disaster program is budgeted for and is paid for, resulting in real reform," he said. Both Conrad and Pomeroy walked a fine line during the negotiations, acting as go-betweens during frequent dust-ups between their colleagues. For several weeks, a final deal seemed elusive. Conrad negotiated closely with Southern senators who threatened to derail the deal by demanding fewer cuts to subsidies. Pomeroy, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, negotiated with the chairman of that committee, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, who was responsible for finding money to pay for the measure but had little interest in farm programs. Despite frequent criticism from the White House that the legislation was too expensive and disagreement among the members themselves, negotiators slowly crafted a bill that had a little something for everyone--a boost in food stamps and other nutrition programs for urban lawmakers, sufficient subsidies for Southern lawmakers, a sprinkling of home-state projects sought by individual members and even a trade deal that was important to Rangel's district. In the end, both chambers voted overwhelmingly for the deal. Overall, the bill is generous to farm country. It gives grants to many crops that have never been part of a farm bill, including fresh fruits and vegetables, increases loan rates for sugar producers and extends and expands dairy programs. The bill also would: --Increase loan rates for wheat, barley, oats and oilseeds and increases target prices for wheat, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans and oilseeds starting in 2010; --Allow some small meat plants to sell their products across state lines, a priority for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture; --Create a program to sell excess sugar to ethanol producers; --Provide incentives to farmers and ranchers who open their land to hunters and fishermen; --Allow residents in flooded Devils Lake, North Dakota to receive extra conservation payments for land flooded by closed basin lakes; --Help prevent the closure of Farm Service Agency offices, language included by South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees; --Boost incentives for those who grow crops for energy and require the Department of Agriculture to purchase and distribute locally grown food produced by American Indians, provisions also authored by Thune; --Improve access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas and increase loans for beginning farmers and ranchers, language inserted by Herseth Sandlin; --Address dietary problems in Indian Country by promoting food assistance programs that purchase traditional and locally grown foods, including bison meat; --Expand tribal access and use of national forest lands and products for cultural and burial purposes. Despite all of that, there are a few disappointments in the bill for Dakotas lawmakers. An amendment offered by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to lower the overall payments to farmers was rejected in the Senate when the chamber first passed the bill last December. The bill does include some cutbacks on subsidies for wealthy farmers, but not enough, said most members, including South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson. Johnson said he is also disappointed that the bill doesn't include a ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock for two weeks before slaughter, a priority for High Plains ranchers who own smaller ranches and are hoping to stem competition from larger companies. That provision was passed by the Senate but stripped in negotiations. "This final farm bill is not a perfect piece of legislation," Johnson said. "However, it does contain some very important provisions that are a solid step in the right direction for our rural communities."
Date: 6/13/08
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