From the Capital Press
9/21/2007 6:00:00 AM
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Senators seek more aid for specialty crops
33 members want to double funding in new Farm Bill
Jerry Hagstrom
For the Capital Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Just as Senate committees appear poised to take up the 2007 Farm Bill, 33 senators have asked that the Senate double funding for specialty crops in the House bill to $3.2 billion.
"Specialty crops represent approximately 50 percent of U.S. crop cash receipts and are of great significance both to farmers working the land and consumers seeking healthy foods," the senators said in a Sept. 19 letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the highest-ranking Republican on the committee.
"With federal dietary guidelines recommending 5 to 13 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, coupled with recent estimates suggesting that over half our U.S. population is overweight, these crops are essential to the health and well-being of all American," the senators said, adding that the funding should be mandatory, which means that it must be spent.
The senators, from specialty crop-producing states, said the money should be used to:
• Expand the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program in all 50 states.
• Expand the specialty crop competitiveness programs run by the states.
• Conduct research and to pay for conservation measures and promote fruit and vegetables overseas.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., organized the letter. Other senators who signed it included all the senators from California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
Harkin and Chambliss did not immediately react to the letter, but aides to other senators said it would be hard for the specialty crop industry to get more money than the $1.6 billion in new spending they got in the House bill.
Senators are aware the House and Senate bills continue the prohibition on planting fruits and vegetables on program land, which the industry has said is worth as much as $5 billion per year in higher prices, and that the government already buys fruits and vegetables to keep prices up.
Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee appear likely to act on the 2007 Farm Bill by Oct. 5, when the Senate leaves Washington for the Columbus Day break.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced Sept. 19 that he would hold a markup session on the agricultural tax package of the Farm Bill on Oct. 3.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said on Sept. 17 that he will hold a markup on the Farm Bill before the Columbus Day recess begins Oct. 5.
Senate aides have said it would be easier for the Senate Agriculture Committee to mark up its Farm Bill after the Finance Committee has marked up its tax package, because they would know how much money the Finance Committee measures have freed up within the Agriculture baseline.
Baucus made his announcement at a National Farmers Union news conference to promote the permanent disaster aid program that is the centerpiece of his tax package.
Baucus said that "farmers need help when they suffer disaster" but have often had to "piggyback" on other disasters like hurricanes that create a more compelling visual image than drought.
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