Illinois Reacts to Farm Bill Passage
By Steve Tarter, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.
Dec. 18–PEORIA — With passage of a farm bill by the U.S. Senate last week, hopes run high that a new bill can be finalized by next month, said a spokesman for the Illinois Farm Bureau.
“It’s important for farmers to have some idea of what the final bill will look like as they make their planting plans over the winter,” said the bureau’s Adam Nielsen.
The bureau likes the bill crafted by the Senate, crediting Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for helping pass the legislation. “We want farmers protected during years when yields are low. While the final version of this crop revenue program isn’t as comprehensive as we wanted, it will improve the safety net program and provide producers with a real choice,” said Durbin.
A revenue-based safety net was a recommendation that came out of a 2005 Illinois Farm Bureau farm policy task force report, said Nielsen.
The proposed five-year, $286 farm bill also includes increased funding for conservation programs, rural development and research, as well as additional support for biofuel production, he said.
The Senate farm bill now goes to conference committee with a House package that was passed in July.
While commodity groups like the American Corn Growers Association and Illinois Soybean Association applauded the Senate bill, not everybody likes the version that passed.
“We were pushing for the Dorgan-Grassley amendment that would have put a modest cap on subsidy programs. But that got voted down,” said Bridget Holcomb, ag policy coordinator for the Rochester-based Illinois Stewardship Alliance. “(That amendment) would have placed a $250,000 limit on farm payments but some senators from farm states didn’t think that was enough.” Holcomb said there were signs of meaningful reform in debates that preceded the vote. “The farm bill is not only about the food that winds up on our plate but also about our air and water and the financial health of developing nations,” she said.
“There will be reform eventually but, unfortunately, not in this farm bill,” said Holcomb.
The bill does require the Agriculture Research Service to invest a larger portion of total research dollars into research for organic systems, according to the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a Washington conservation group.
“The Senate Farm Bill is kind of a mixed bag for the U.S. pork industry,” said NPPC President Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona. “When Senate and House lawmakers meet to craft a final Farm Bill, NPPC will work for a measure that doesn’t include restrictions on producers and that protects the pork industry’s competitiveness,” she said.
—–
To see more of the Journal Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.PJStar.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.