More farm bill hearings
Farm and Ranch June 10, 2010 The U.S House Agriculture Committee has been holding hearings on the next farm bill and later this month the Senate Ag Committee will also. Committee chair Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who by the way survived a challenge in her party’s primary this week, says the first of several hearings will be held June 30th in Capitol Hill. That session will focus on Maintaining Our Domestic Food Supply through a Strong U.S. Farm Policy. Other hearings will cover the rural economy, conservation and energy and agriculture. Meanwhile, House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson says an issue he wants honest discussion about for the next farm bill is payment limits. Peterson: “The last farm bill the way all of the press was and the editorial writers was that payment limits were some how reformed. And they are not, in fact payment limits are complications that don‘t necessarily get us anything policy wise in my opinion. So one of the reasons I am looking at the programs is if we get them differently we may not have to have payment limits, which would simplify a lot of work in the county offices and a lot of what we are doing here on these farm programs.” That led Peterson to this comment on direct payments. Peterson: “Most of the payment limit stuff is driven by the direct payment. If we didn‘t have direct payments, maybe the issue goes away.” Peterson says farmers need something to back them up in bad years but in his mind, there needs to be something more acceptable to farmers and the general public. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo net. ? ? ?
