Sen. Chuck Grassley today will vote against the conference version of a new six-year farm bill, saying that the legislation doesn't address the highest priorities of family farmers in Iowa.
"This bicameral agreement shortchanges Iowa farmers. It fails to give independent livestock producers the tools they need to effectively compete in the marketplace," Grassley said. "And it gives 60 percent of the farm program payments to 10 percent of producers."
Grassley is the only working family farmer in the U.S. Senate. He farms corn and soybeans in Butler County.
During Senate debate on the farm bill last winter, Grassley championed seven successful amendments to the bill. He said that six of those pro-family farmer amendments were removed during conference negotiations. In particular, he said the absence of the bipartisan initiatives he sponsored to limit packer ownership of livestock to 14 days before slaughter and crack down on sky-high farm program payments going to large-scale farmers in the final product mean the bill could sound the death knell for small and mid-sized family farms and independent livestock producers.
"The lack of competition and the threat of increased concentration in agriculture are the two biggest concerns I hear from Iowa farmers," Grassley said. "The fact that this bill doesn't address these concerns is especially bad news for beginning farmers. The big farmers will get bigger, take up more farm land and cash-rent rates will get even higher, making it very hard to get started in farming."
Grassley also emphasized that uncapping farm payments will further derail public support for the farm safety net. "It will make it so hard to win urban support in the future, especially in the House of Representatives, that this bill may very well be the last farm bill to grind its way through Washington," he said.
Grassley's legislation would have eliminated the three-entity rule and capped annual farm payments at $275,000. The conference report raises the limit to $360,000 and opens loopholes that let big farms receive unlimited subsidies from the farm program.
In addition to the packer-ownership and payment limit amendments pushed by Grassley, the farm bill conference report eliminated his initiatives to avoid trade disputes that put Iowa farmers at risk for retaliatory action from U.S. trading partners, keep packers from being able to force producers into mandatory arbitration, help Iowa livestock producers develop renewable energy sources, and expand new opportunities for nutrition programs.
"It's a shame that Washington has frittered away the opportunity that comes with a new farm bill to keep competition alive and kicking in American agriculture," Grassley said. The House of Representatives passed the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 last week. It's expected to pass the Senate today. President Bush has said that he will sign the bill.
The legislation guarantees $1.98/bushel for corn and $5.00/bushel for soybeans in 2002-2003. It resurrects a counter-cyclical program to supplement farm income when prices fall below the set target price of $2.60/bushel for corn and $5.80/bushel for soybeans. Farmers will be able to update their base acres using 1998-2001 planting records.
But Grassley said they will have to wait until December or even next March before they receive any sizeable payment and 16 months to receive all payments due for the 2002 crop. "No one knows better than farmers that paying down debt sooner rather than later makes your money go a lot further," he said.