01/15/08 Farm Bureau calls for action on Farm Bill

Farm and Ranch January 15, 2008 Members of the American Farm Bureau Federation from across the U.S. including the Pacific Northwest, have gathered in New Orleans this week for the general farm organization's 89th annual convention. In his pre-convention meeting with reporters, Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman said the farm bills approved by both houses of Congress provide the kind of programs America's farmers want. He said Farm Bureau members support continuation of the three-legged safety net of direct support, counter-cyclical payments and marketing loans. The farm bill has yet to be conferenced between the two chambers and Stallman called on Congress to get the farm bill done. Stallman: "We still have a farm bill, that while great progress has been made, is still not signed into law and farmers are planting crops for 2008 and they need to know what the rules are going to be." "Get a farm bill done now" was also the message from Jim Wiesemeyer, farm policy expert, who addressed the Farm Bureau Convention. Wiesemeyer said if Congress fails to finalize a farm bill in the near future, farmers and ranchers could see the programs they depend on pushed to the back of a long and difficult policy to-do list. He said among the issues that could side track lawmakers are social security, health care costs and tax cuts. The Pro Farmer consultant also said a shrinking budget baseline and a growing national deficit also pose threats to agricultural spending. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.