Agriculture secretary says he'd recommend veto of House ag committee's Farm Bill

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said yesterday that he “and the President’s entire team of senior advisors will recommend that he veto this bill,” the Farm Bill approved by the House Agriculture Committee.

“Johanns says the measure as sent out of the committee is too pricey and will require tax increases to be implemented,” reports Tom Steever of Brownfield Network, a Midwest farm news service. Johanns called the bill's loan-rate and target-price provisions as a step backward in farm policy and said it would bring intense scrutiny from the World Trade Organization. “The loan rates that exceed market prices create an incentive to plant one crop over another regardless of market demand,” the secretary said.

Dan Morgan reports for The Washington Post, “Farm-state Republicans had been lining up with Democrats to defend the bipartisan bill but changed course when notified that a proposed increase in nutrition programs would be funded partly by tightening the rules on U.S.-based foreign companies that avoid U.S. taxes by using offshore havens. Republicans quickly picked up on a White House statement branding the funding plan as an unacceptable tax increase. . . . Democrats said the tax proposal would merely close a loophole that the Bush administration itself has decried in the past."Who is surprised that the administration takes the side of CEOs who hold beachside board meetings at the expense of programs to feed the least fortunate here at home?" asked Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. The furor added a new element to an increasingly heated debate over whether the bill would provide meaningful reforms to the sprawling farm-subsidy system.” (Read more)

The New York Times' David Herszenhorn, catching up to previous coverage by the Post, reports the politics: “Faced with fierce opposition from the House Agriculture Committee, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and other Democratic leaders lowered their sights and are now backing the committee’s bill, in part to protect freshman lawmakers from rural areas who may be vulnerable in the 2008 elections.” (Read more) A Congressional Budget Office report said the bill would increase spending by $5.8 billion through 2012.

Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., defended his work: “This Farm Bill is supported by a broad spectrum of agriculture, conservation, nutrition and renewable energy advocates,” Peterson said in a prepared statement. “(The bill) represents a carefully crafted compromise that includes substantial reforms and new investments in programs that matter, including fruit and vegetable production, nutrition programs, conservation and renewable energy. Our bill implements Country of Origin Labeling, improves food safety, and paves the way for energy independence while preserving the safety net that our farmers and ranchers need.” (Read more)