03/1/07 Specialty crop proposals get hearing

Washington Ag March 1, 2007 USDA's plans for specialty crops in the next Farm Bill were detailed yesterday by Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor for the House Ag Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. One area of disagreement between some members of Congress and the Administration's proposal for specialty crops is USDA's plan to eliminate the restriction on planting fruits and vegetables on farm program crop acres, which Connor defended. Connor: "We believe strongly that eliminating planting restrictions does ensure that we comply with all of our WTO trade commitments and positions us for the future to keep our exports, including exports of specialty crops, flowing without WTO challenge." Subcommittee chair Dennis Cardoza of California told Connor the planting issue was a main concern of growers he met with recently in California, Oregon and Washington. Cardoza: "We'll have to have further discussions on this topic. I recognize the Administration's concerns and I also recognize the farmer in field concerns about the impact this could have. And all the marketing and all the other work we do could go for naught if there are too many acres planted in these different commodities." Cardoza said he was committed to having the committee write a responsible, equitable and innovative component to the Farm Bill for specialty crops and organics. I'm Bob Hoff.