Despite being a bipartisan effort, the current U.

Saturday, January 26, 2002

Despite being a bipartisan effort, the current U.S. Farm Bill is still subject to snags and controversies, said both U.S. Rep. Tom Latham (R) Iowa and Bob Soukup, a staff member from Sen. Tom Harkin’s office. Regional rivalries and the different approaches of House and Senate leadership are the main obstacles to a quick passage of a new bill, the speakers told those attending the annual Worth County Extension Crop Pesticide/ 2002 Farm Bill meeting Friday in Northwood.

Latham and Soukup were asked to provide information and perspectives on the 2002 Farm Bill, which is still under debate in the Senate in Washington. And whether it was their presence, or the free catered lunch, turnout was nearly double that of previous years, with just under 200 farmers and representatives of agri-businesses in attendance. Both spoke at the meeting and then participated in a joint question-and-answer session.

Latham said he sees it as important that they try to put together a Farm Bill that reflects the changes in agriculture and the rural way of life.

&uot;I can see the effects of these changes on our communities, on our churches and schools, on our farm families,&uot; said Latham.

Latham is not endorsing or supporting either the version passed by the House last fall or the Senate version currently being debated, seeing both good and bad things about both.

&uot;We still have a long way to go,&uot; he said. &uot;I have real reservations about the way we’re heading with this – we have a huge amount of money available.&uot;

He also sees a potential conflict between the attempts to satisfy everyone by fulling funding both incentives for increased production and incentives for more conservation, he said.

Harkin is pushing a cap on payments to farmers, said Soukup. But his efforts are meeting a lot of resistance from other parts of the country. Nothing will be known for certain about whether or not caps will be a part of the new bill until after the Senate votes and the conference committee begins to negotiate, he said.

According to both Latham and Soukup, the House and Senate versions of the bill differ in both big and small ways, the biggest of which is the length of time the bill would be in effect. The total amount budgeted for the farm bill over the next 10 years is $170 billion, including an extra $73 billion added last session, but the House stretches that amount out over the full 10 years, while the Senate version holds the bill to just five years.

The other snags relate to regional rivalries, with dairy farmers from the Northeast lobbying legislators to retain the Northeast Dairy Compact and sugar farmers in the South and Southwest lobbying theirs to oppose any caps on total farm payments.

One issue that is finding broad agreement is the need to continue to provide ag producers with flexibility. The current bill will still allow farmers to choose how many acres they want to put into production, said Latham.

Latham and Soukup also agree that the image that ag producers have among urban and suburban voters is going to become more important in the future. Soukup pointed out how the Web site run by the Environmental Working Group, which details payments to individual farmers from all over the country, is having an effect on the editorial pages of major newspapers, with more people complaining about the Farm Bill’s costs.

&uot;We must be careful that we don’t overstep. Farmers are a select group now, and we need to be sensitive to the concerns of those who are paying for these programs,&uot; Latham said.