Lobbyist says don't wave the white flag yet on safety net for next farm bill

Farm and Ranch March 31, 2011 It is way too early to conclude that the next farm bill’s safety net will be less generous than in the past. That message was delivered during the recent Commodity Classic by Tom Sell, a partner of former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest of Sell and Associates. Sell is bothered by the defeatist attitude he is hearing from some in production agriculture going into the 2012 Farm Bill debate.

Sell: “This is for producers and for ag industry representatives. We need to avoid the hand wringing and we need to be proud of what it is that you do. We have a tendency in agriculture to want to say, and we will see it at the conference over the next three days, of gosh, well, maybe we should give up fixed payments, or give up this or that. And I would just urge the crowd to say “whoa.”

Sell recommended that farm and commodity groups unite behind a message that highlights ag’s importance to the U.S. economy and the contribution it’s already made to deficit reduction.

Sell: “We have done our part. Why don‘t we just have other parts of the federal government do what agriculture has done.”

Sell argued that waving a white flag now will only embolden agriculture’s opponents and discourage agriculture leaders in the House and Senate, all of whom have pledged to fight for a stronger safety net.

Sell: “We owe it to those leaders to get behind them, support their efforts. To be proponents for agriculture along with them.”

Agricultural lobbyist Tom Sell.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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