Published: November 09, 2007 11:29 pm         

Farm bill stuck in Senate

OKLAHOMA CITY — Jon Leeds will tell you weather is a farmer’s greatest adversary.

“That ranges from drought to fires to floods to tornadoes,” said Leeds, a corn, soybeans and wheat farmer in Webbers Falls.

This year, weather won the battle over Leeds’ wheat crop.

“When times are good, do your best and not slack off,” he said. “It’s been very tough between flood and drought.”

He lost his crop this year and said he has insurance to cover the cost of seeds and fertilizer, but not the cost of what he would have made by selling the crop.

Leeds does not depend heavily on federal commodity programs but does depend on another federal program that helps when crop prices drop.

The new farm bill — designed to help farmers, enrich conservation and feed low-income people through food stamp and nutrition programs — is stalled in the U.S. Senate and may not meet its 2007 reauthorization deadline if senators don’t act quickly, one legislator warns.



It may take a miracle



U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and a farmer and rancher in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. He played a role in drafting the House version of the farm bill, which is reauthorized every five years. He said this year’s House version is similar to the 2002 farm bill, except House Democrats inserted a tax increase. He agrees with the content of the bill but not the tax increase, so he voted against the bill.

The bill passed, and the Senate Agriculture Committee wrote a Senate version of the farm bill with much of the same content as the House bill. Now, Lucas wants some form of the bill to pass the Senate so the kinks can be worked out in a conference committee to meet a year-end deadline.

But he said meeting that deadline means miraculous things have to occur.



A lot has changed in 58 years



The Senate has debated whether to allow amendments to the farm bill, causing delays in getting the legislation passed.

Lucas believes if the Senate can pass some form of the farm bill by Friday, before legislators go home for the Thanksgiving break, there may be an opportunity to get the bill finished by the end of the year. If not, an extension of the 2002 farm bill may be necessary or the bill will revert back to the original 1949 farm bill, he said, and a lot has changed in 58 years.

“If (we) extend in mass by another year, most (farmers) will say ‘good’ because it was working, successful and popular,” Lucas said.

But Tim Bartram worries if the farm bill is not extended it may affect those who need advance payments or need to renew bank loans that may run out.

“We already have a crop in the ground, and we don’t know what rules we’re playing under,” said Bartram, a wheat farmer and rancher near Guthrie and executive director of Enid-based Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association.



Feeding the masses



The largest portion of the farm bill deals with feeding programs.

Rodney Bivens, executive director of Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, wants action taken on the new bill so more food can go toward feeding the hungry in the state. There is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides commodities to Oklahomans, but since commodity prices are so high, the amount of food provided to communities has decreased, he said. The decline is about 1.4 million pounds statewide since the fiscal year began in July.

The new bill may provide double the amount of commodities Oklahoma now receives.

Clay Pope, a former state lawmaker and now executive director of Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, also worries about the fate of some of the state’s conservation programs if the bill is not reauthorized or extended.

A program like Environmental Quality Incentives Program — a cost-share program working in areas such as nutrient management, soil conservation and improvements to wildlife — is a program he does not want to disappear. The same applies to Conservation Reserve Program to retire land and the Farmland Protection program to make sure agriculture land doesn’t become subdivision land.

“Every week that passes (without a new farm bill) there is more concern on the countryside,” Pope said.



Fresh from the farm — bill



Lucas predicted in February the new farm bill probably would include less money to commodity programs and more money for conservation efforts and feeding programs.

Commodity programs are designed to keep farmers of products such as wheat, corn, cotton, rice and sugar, in business. Most crops grown in Oklahoma fall under that umbrella.

The House bill shows a 42 percent decrease in spending for commodity programs, a 46 percent increase in spending for feeding programs — such as food stamps and nutrition programs — and a 32 percent increase in spending for conservation efforts.

Lucas said the decrease for commodity programs is because of strong commodity prices.

Two types of programs are intended to be safety nets for farmers. The first is a fixed direct payment to farmers based on the number of acres farmed. The other counter-cyclical program gives farmers money if crop prices fall below the targeted crop price set by the government.

Leeds said the fixed payments don’t yield much money for him, but he has relied on the counter-cyclical money in the past. He said there were several years in a row when corn and soybean prices fell below the targeted prices and he needed federal assistance to make ends meet.

He also sees the need to keep Environmental Quality Incentives Program around because it has helped him to conserve energy and water by installing low-pressure irrigation systems for his crops.

Bartram said keeping the commodity programs is important for farmers not only affected by high fuel prices but by high fertilizer prices, as well. He said the safety net the farm bill provides is not only for the peace of mind of farmers, but mostly for consumers.

“The U.S. has the cheapest and best food in the world,” he said. “(Commodity programs) help provide food security.”



‘It is not working right now’



U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has authored the Farm, Ranch, Equity, Stewardship and Health Act to do away with automatic payments to farmers and only provide a safety net when there are “unforeseen risks” that arise. He is waiting to have the amendment heard to attach it to the farm bill.

Demian Moore, senior policy analyst for the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, said both House and Senate versions of the farm bill do not make adequate changes in how money is given to farmers. Moore said the direct payments to farmers and the counter-cyclical payments need to be scaled back, especially in a time of record high crop prices.

“The safety net approach is legitimate, but it is not working right now,” he said, noting that farmers receiving what he considers high crop prices are still getting federal subsidies.

The group supports Lugar’s amendment to eliminate fixed direct payments and focus more on federal crop insurance. Moore said making changes to the farm bill is not an easy task.

“You don’t get substantial changes overnight in the House or Senate,” he said.



Working on the bill



Lucas contends crops raised in the Midwest are less expensive to harvest than those in the South, making commodity programs more necessary in the southern region. He does not support taking away automatic payments.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, also are trying to limit farm subsidy payments for a couple to $250,000 a year, compared with the current $360,000, according to the Associated Press. Moore said his organization also supports the possible amendment.

Lucas said regardless of how long it takes to reach an agreement on this year’s farm bill, the next farm bill is just around the corner in 2012.

“As long as we eat, there will be a need for a farm bill,” Lucas said.



Jaclyn Houghton is CNHI News Service Oklahoma reporter.