02/01/07 Outlining the Farm Bill

Outlining the new Farm Bill. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns has unveiled the Administration's farm bill proposals. According to Johanns - the proposals for the 2007 version of farm policy reflect the views America's farmers and ranchers expressed during USDA's Farm Bill Forums. JOHANNS: Maybe you'll challenge me on this but I don't think a Secretary of Agriculture in history has ever reached out this extensively across the country. 52 farm bill forums in 48 states, 4000 comments received. The largest one was in Minnesota. We give Minnesota the gold star today, the turned out 1600 farmers and stake-holders to talk to us about farm policy. Forty-one summary papers put those comments together, we posted all of that and them we charged Keith Collins and our economists to do analysis papers and they did on 5 themes and they've been posted. We've invited people to offer their thoughts on that. Johanns says the Administration turned to farmers and ranchers for their opinions because they're most impacted by U.S. farm policy. And in the end - he says the Administration took all of the comments to heart - and worked to build policy that encompasses the big vision the nation's farmers have for the future. JOHANNS: As we started working our way through all of these comments some things became really apparent and I started talking about them some months ago. These proposals, we believe, are more equitable. These proposals are market oriented; they provide support when revenue is low despite high prices. The distribute resources more equitably among producers and among commodities. Better able to withstand challenge. These proposals transition toward market based programs and away from programs tied to price and production. And of course very important to keep that support amongst people who pay the bill, the tax payers. I have to be able to go to a city in America where there are no farmers and ranchers and effectively make the case that our farm policy is a wise federal investment, which I maintain. Johanns says the Administration's proposals reflect the right changes for the time. JOHANNS: They demonstrate fiscal responsibility. They save about 10 billion dollars over the cost of the 2002 Farm Bill excluding disaster aid. I will also tell you that they uphold the President's plan to eliminate the deficit within 5 years. It fits within that plan. And we also support emerging priorities. We increased funding for renewable energy and conservation research, rural development and trade. We also provide 5 billion more than would have provided if the 2002 Farm Bill was just simply extended. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.