Farm Bill

September 13, 2006

I was invited to testify before the House Ag Committee last week to give my ideas on what the next farm bill should look like. That is a complicated question. It might be easy to say, "Don't change it. Farmers like the one we have." But the fact is, times and conditions change and farm supports must also. The first farm bill I participated in was in 1981, 25 years ago, my first year as Secretary ofAgriculture. That bill did not change much but every bill since then has moved us along . an evolutionary path, driven by global ag trade and a steady decline in the number offarmers. Every farm bill is influenced by many external conditions.

Here is what we face:

. We have a worrisome budget deficit; therefore, we won't get as much money.

. Other parts of the ag industry are asking why they don't get a slice of the pie -- fruit and vegetable produce in the next bill.

. The cry for more money for conservation cannot be ignored.

. The current bill does not meet WTO rules. Some change is necessary.

I think the changes and adjustments above are appropriate and unavoidable. Assuming we don't get a new WTO agreement, the new bill will look more like the old than it would have if we were required to conform to a new WTO. I don't support a 1-year or 2-year extension. Also, I am not convinced that an income assurance program would ever work.

Revolutionary change in farm program supports frightens me. Without some safety net, a collapse in the farm economy could occur as we experienced in the 80's. That was devastating.

We should be able to rally some support recognizing that the American family spends less than 10% of their income on food. That leaves all the rest of that take-home money to drive our economy. That's a major ag contribution.

Any thoughts you have, contact me at jblock@ofwlaw.com. Have a great week.