11/7/06 Next Comes the Farm Bill

With 2006 winding down - U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns knows the 2007 farm bill is on the minds of producers throughout the nation. USDA and Congress have both traveled the countryside this year - and in 2005 - to gather producer input on the upcoming farm bill. But those preparations are just the beginning - and according to Johanns - with the new calendar year just two months away - work on the next farm bill is just around the corner. JOHANNS: We have put a lot of preparation into this. We have been all over the United States doing farm bill forums; in fact, we have done 52 forums in 48 out of the 50 states. When we turn the calendar over on January 1 to 2007 I expect the work on the farm bill to start fast and furious. But what will the new farm bill look like? That`s the question of producers and lawmakers alike. And while no one knows for certain - Johanns says one thing is for sure - the budget will have an impact. He says the budget always impacts the farm bill. JOHANNS: The reality of the federal budget these days is that we are running a deficit and the President has set a goal of cutting that in half. We're well on our path to accomplishing that. His tax cuts have worked and the economy has done very, very well and it's increased revenues into the federal budget. But having said that there still a deficit there so that is going to have some impact on the farm bill. Even with the budget deficit - an ag policy expert at the University of Illinois has said he doesn`t expect fewer dollars available for the farm bill. He does - however - expect the distribution of those dollars to differ. That could mean less funding for important farm programs. Johanns says that`s certainly a possibility. But he says important programs like the Market Promotion Program - which assists U.S. producers of a variety of ag products - will likely have the support of policymakers...tape JOHANNS: The feeling is that program that encourage the sale of our products in foreign markets are positive programs as long as they are not trade distorting and you're causing problems from a WTO standpoint but those programs do get a lot of support in the country. And so because of that I have to imagine that they will have support on Capitol Hill. And then it becomes a question of what level of funding will realistically be available. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.