Bill Has Promise for Area Farmers: Proposal Ups Specialty-Crop Funds, Cuts Subsidies to Rich.

By Michael Doyle and Dennis Pollock, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Feb. 1–WASHINGTON — The federal government would buy a lot more fruits and vegetables under the Bush administration’s farm bill proposal planted Wednesday — and Valley growers could benefit.

Gratifying farmers in states like California and Florida, the administration wants to increase so-called specialty-crop spending by billions of dollars in coming years. The money would pay for new school lunches, more promotion of crops overseas, additional research and more.

“I think the proposals in the specialty-crop area will be very, very well received,” Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said.

Other proposals, though, may be nipped in the bud. The administration, for instance, says it wants to stop paying crop subsidies to the 80,000 richest farmers in the country. Lobbyists and farm-state lawmakers could quickly rally against that idea.

“Congress will have the final say and set the final spending limits in the farm bill,” cautioned Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the highest-ranking GOP member of the Senate agriculture committee.

Past farm bills have devoted most of their funding to subsidizing crops like rice, cotton and wheat. Those crops would still soak up a big share of the Bush administration’s proposal, pegged at $623 billion over the next 10 years.

This year more money would be spent on nutrition programs and food stamps.

Specialty crops, though, are the political flavor of the day.

Like another farm bill proposal from House members led by Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, and Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., the administration’s plan is packed with specialty-crop spending. The plan includes:

Buying an additional $2.75 billion worth of fruits and vegetables over 10 years for the nation’s food assistance program.

Buying an additional $500 million worth of fruits and vegetables for the federal school meal program over the next 10 years.

Investing $1 billion over 10 years in a new specialty-crop research initiative, delving into areas like pest control and plant breeding.

“It’s a good first step,” said Cardoza, who chairs the House subcommittee overseeing fruits and vegetables. “I’m very encouraged, but the trick always with a farm bill is to be sure you’re going to be able to pass it.”

Russel Efird, a diversified farmer and president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, said past farm bills “have historically left out specialty crops.” He said broadening assistance beyond those who grow the bigger program crops is important in “keeping those commodities in stores and grown here in the United States.”

Tim Chelling, a spokesman for the Western Growers Association in Irvine, said the group is “gratified to see that this farm bill marks [a] historic first for the produce industry in many ways, recognizing in a real way the need for investment in specialty crops.”

The administration wants to set aside a percentage of conservation funds for beginning and “socially disadvantaged farmers,” defined as women and members of minority populations. That strikes a chord in Fresno County, home to more small farms than any other county in the nation.

“That is a much-needed program,” said Will Scott Jr., a Fresno farmer and president of the African-American Farmers of California. “It would be a shot in the arm for small farmers and help them to get over some of the hurdles — to get a foothold to stand and be self-sufficient.”

The proposal further boosts conservation spending. The administration cites concerns over “air quality in the San Joaquin Valley” as reason to add $4 billion to an existing Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which helps farmers make operations more effective and environmentally friendly.

Setting the stage for a Capitol Hill fight, the administration wants to stop paying subsidies to farmers with adjusted gross incomes greater than $200,000.

“That’s a lot of money,” Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor said. “That’s a reasonable threshold.”

An estimated 80,000 farmers nationwide would lose their subsidies under the proposal. In past years, similar subsidy reforms have encountered stiff congressional resistance.

“The payment limit portions of this will probably receive some of the greatest scrutiny,” Cardoza said.

California growers of cotton, rice, wheat and corn received $321 million in federal payments in 2004, according to data compiled by the Environmental Working Group.

Johanns will bring his campaign to the San Joaquin Valley today to showcase the farm bill’s new direction. He will appear this morning at the Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, and California specialty crop organizations will be briefed by phone.

The administration’s 183-page package is far from the final story. Congress will now unpack the proposals, some of which are mind-numbingly complex. The farm bill itself will be written on Capitol Hill in coming months.

Even the administration’s projected spending increases are somewhat illusory. For instance, the administration says it wants to boost Market Access Program spending by an additional $250 million over 10 years. The program assists industry groups with marketing exports.

The administration is following budgetary rules in identifying the 10-year projected spending. In reality, though, the spending totals — like how much the Market Access Program gets — will be rewritten in only five years, when Congress writes the next farm bill.

This year, the Market Access Program is providing a total of $100 million to groups like the California Cling Peach Board, the California Table Grape Commission and the California Kiwifruit Commission. The money pays for overseas ads and promotions.

“[We] support the federal government’s efforts in opening international markets and helping create new global trade contacts,” said Richard Waycott, president of the Almond Board of California.

The reporters can be reached at mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006 and dpollock@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6364.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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