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Farm Bill Update Call Now! IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU CALL BOTH YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOW!! THE FARM BILL WILL BE VOTED ON EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL VOTE FOR AGRICULTURE FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. The time has come that we have an opportunity to contribute to the passage of a new Farm Bill. The American Farm Bureau legislative staff feels that President Bush has full intentions of vetoing the bill that Congress will likely pass on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. We ask that you make a concerted effort to contact both Senators and your member of the House of Representatives to ask for their support of the passage of the bill as well as encourage them to over ride the President's veto. We also encourage you to contact your friends and neighbors and ask that they also call. TALKING POINTS ON FARM BILL The Farm Bill... •
Maintains the current structure of the safety net including
direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and the marketing
loan program **********May 8, 2008 Update Information********* ---FARM BILL FINALIZED, YET VETO LOOMS?---House and Senate negotiators on Wednesday said they have reached agreement on the farm bill and will ready the bill for consideration by the full House and Senate next week, but they appear headed toward a showdown with President Bush, various media outlets report. Farm bill negotiators plan to discuss their latest efforts at a Capitol Hill news conference at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time today. Click here to obtain video and audio connections to the event. Bush met with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday, and “he made it clear he was still not there,” Bob Goodlatte (Va.), the senior Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, told The Des Moines Register. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the agreement would eliminate direct payments to individuals who make more than $750,000 in annual adjusted gross farm income, the Associated Press reports. Individuals who make more than $500,000 in non-farm income also would be ineligible for direct payments. Last week, negotiators were considering a $950,000 cap on annual adjusted gross farm income. Bush aides most recently urged lawmakers to limit direct payments to individuals who receive less than $500,000 in annual adjusted gross farm income. Meanwhile, Chuck Conner, Agriculture Department deputy secretary, is reported to have told a gathering of conservative activists on Wednesday that Bush is likely to veto the farm bill. Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said a veto would be popular with his fellow conservatives, who believe “this is a fight worth having” in advance of November elections. White House spokesperson Dana Perino said it “seems unlikely” Congress will produce a bill Bush would sign. “Therefore,” Perino said, “the president would call on them to pass a one-year extension if they can’t get to a point where they would pass a bill that he could sign.” The American Farm Bureau Federation opposes a one-year extension of the existing farm bill and supports enactment of a new farm bill now. The Wall Street Journal reports the farm bill has “become a defining issue of the last year” of Bush’s presidency. Bush “regretted” signing the 2002 farm bill, in part because it undermined his image as a fiscal conservative. Reuters reports Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said he is “hopeful” Bush will sign the legislation. “We’ve got to get the votes to override a veto, and we will,” he said. House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) told Politico.com he believes the farm bill will get more than 300 votes in the House next week. Forrest Laws of The Delta Farm Press writes in a column, “On one hand, most southern row crop farmers believe that if push comes to shove, Congress will extend the current law, which is what many of them favored at the outset. On the other, many wonder what will happen if Congress simply kicks the bill forward rather than settling the issue now?” Laws concludes, “The biggest losers if Congress does nothing but extend the farm bill another year will be fruit and vegetable producers, who would not see the new research and promotion funding they fought for in the House and Senate farm bills, and wheat and soybean growers who sought a rebalancing of their target prices and loan rates. “But all growers will suffer from the idea that agriculture isn’t important enough for Congress and the White House to sit down and put together policy that will bring stability to the nation’s food supply in good times and bad.” # # # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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