Public Radio Commentary

Presented by Sandy Courtnage

July 3, 2007

The 4^th of July is tomorrow, and legislatively that means Congress is on recess.  All is not picnics and relaxation, however.  Yesterday in Great Falls the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee held a Field Hearing on the Farm Bill.  Our president, Alan Merrill, participated in a panel and shared some of our priorities with the senators present. 

Montana Farmers Union is an organization whose policies originate from the ground up.  One of the first statements found in our policy charges our board to promote a balance between sales and cost of farm operations.  Understandably our members believe a priority for the new farm bill should be profitability with farmers and ranchers receiving their income from the marketplace. 

In order to accomplish that goal, however, MFU believes that the next Farm Bill should include the following provisions that will permit family-based agriculture to flourish.  These provisions include:

Ø      A commodity title that provides a farm income safety net that uses counter-cyclical payments indexed to the cost of production to support family farmers during periods of low commodity prices;

Ø      Full funding for the Conservation Security Program, and increases in the funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to help develop and implement conservation cost-share programs;

Ø      A strong nutrition title to help provide basic food and nutrition needs for all citizens in need;

Ø      A competition title that addresses current anti-trust practices and ensures anti-trust laws will be enforced;

Ø      A renewable energy title that makes energy independence a national priority;

Ø      A rural development title that helps economic opportunities for the betterment of rural America; and

Ø      A permanent disaster program, funded from the general treasury in the same manner as other natural disasters.

I would like to expand on just a couple of these priorities.

Here in Montana we are enthusiastic about renewable energy from the farm, particularly wind and biofuels, which offer some new cropping opportunities.  We feel strongly, however, that the economic benefits remain in our Montana communities.  Many times we have seen large corporate investments in the state draw the wealth out with little or no reinvestment in the local economy.  We urged the Ag Committee to ensure that farmer-owned and locally owned renewable energy efforts are a priority. 

Montana Farmers Union supports a change in how a safety net is provided for agricultural producers.  When it became apparent that the Ag Committee was faced with diminished resources, the National Farmers Union started looking at alternatives that would cost less, but still provide the necessary services.  NFU commissioned an economic study that looked at adding a cost of production component, set at 95 percent of the cost of production, to a purely counter-cyclical safety net.

The proposal allows for increased input costs to be reflected in a counter-cyclical payment in the event that prices drop below a certain level.  It would guard, for example, against sharp increases in energy prices like we have experienced in the past several years.

According to the economic analysis and modeling conducted by Dr. Daryll Ray, at the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee, the proposal would provide the same level of support as the current farm bill, plus save $2 to $3 billion per year. 

These savings could provide the resources to fund a permanent disaster program and allow other saved resources to be used for high priority programs such as renewable energy, conservation, specialty crop producers, rural development and research.

Two final concerns focus on food safety and security.  Given problems surrounding the food supply for both human and animal consumption, we urged the Committee to strengthen our food safety oversight and inspection programs.  And, MFU emphatically supports the immediate implementation of country-of-origin labeling. 

Food security relates directly to the belief that there should be no hungry people when the United States has such a capacity to produce safe and nutritious food.  We support strong and fully funded nutrition and food programs at home and abroad.

There are many other important issues, and its certain that the Farm Bill could impact you or someone you know.  Count on the debate to be vigorous and lengthy.  Count on us to continue advocating for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities.  And, we hope we can count on you to be involved in the process as well.

For the Montana Farmers Union, I’m Sandy Courtnage.  Thanks for listening.

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