09/20/06 Former Sec`s Voice Opinions

Former Secretaries Voice Opinions. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Former Secretaries of Agriculture on Thursday told a House Ag Subcommittee the next farm bill must adapt to changing budget - trade - energy - and nutrition needs. But the former USDA leaders split over the question of how to meet energy feedstock shortages. John Block, Clayton Yeutter and Dan Glickman agreed on the need for a basic farm safety net with some changes to meet budget needs - and moving ahead with a new farm bill despite uncertainty in WTO trade talks. But Glickman - who served under Democrat Bill Clinton - argued energy security - and returning conservation acres to feedstock use - could endanger food security... GLICKMAN: Yea I'd like to see 5 or 6 dollar corn but I tell you it will wipe out big parts of the livestock sector or it will cause massive consolidation to take place. But Yeutter argued energy versus food competition would only be a temporary problem... YEUTTER: That certainly can be an issue, at least in the short run. I don't believe it will be in the longer run because in my view we'll find ways to use celuostic products and a lot of other things to convert to energy. We can discover those answers here. We may have a bit of an adjustment period but it seems to me that we can manage that process. But the Ag Secretaries did agree the government should not be directly involved in the ethanol industry. Former U.S. and Illinois Ag Secretary John Block shared his point of view with the subcommittee. BLOCK: I don't think the federal government needs to build ethanol plants. If you look out there right now, there's so much energy and enthusiasm, they're building them about as fast as we can ramp up the corn production and at the same time we've got to do more research to figure out how to do it with other products other than the food or grain. But Block argued the market should work and decide what's needed. BLOCK: I've had some people say maybe let's get rid of the conservation reserve program so that land can be put into the production of crops because we need them for ethanol. I'd let the market buy that land out of production there. Block - who raises hogs in Illinois - says he's not concerned if the price of corn goes up. He claims the markets will adjust. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.