"Measured in planted acres, rice, peanuts and barley could fit in the back pasture of most farm bills," David Rogers writes for Politico. "Measured in politics, they crowd right up to the road." And they are spurring renewed efforts to pass a Farm Bill, Rogers reports.
"Rice is big for Arkansas where the farm bill is already an issue between Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and his Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Cotton, in the 2014 election. Peanuts are a cash crop important to Georgia and its Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss—Speaker John Boehner's old pal and a veteran deal maker who came up through agriculture in his early years in the House," Rogers writes. "Barley is its own political brew . . . Northwest Minnesota is barley country and home to Rep. Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee and driving force now behind plans to almost double the target price in support of the richer market."
Boehner has quietly said he will at last appoint House conferees to meet with the Senate to negotiate a final bill. UPDATE: Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., told Brownfield Ag News that Boehner assured her he would make the appointments within a week. House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas is going for a "Big Four" meeting with the top negotiators. The big issue is food stamps and the House's desire for much larger cuts in the program, but there are many agricultural issues, too.
The University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute has provided a 30-page analysis of the House and Senate bills including data significant to the debate. FAPRI's evaluation is mostly balanced: "Under both bills, the average estimated impacts on production and prices are generally small relative to normal annual variation caused by other factors."
The analysis says the House bill's raising of the target prices for rice, peanuts and barley, and allowing farmers to increase production up to a cap, will prompt farmers to plant more of the crops but lower prices, leaving farmers "more dependent on the government for a share of their returns."
The American Soybean Association says the analysis show potential for "global market distortions, which would increase U.S. farm program vulnerability to challenges under the World Trade Organization," Rogers reports. "Powerful business lobbies, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, are raising their own trade fears." (Read more)
"Rice is big for Arkansas where the farm bill is already an issue between Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and his Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Cotton, in the 2014 election. Peanuts are a cash crop important to Georgia and its Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss—Speaker John Boehner's old pal and a veteran deal maker who came up through agriculture in his early years in the House," Rogers writes. "Barley is its own political brew . . . Northwest Minnesota is barley country and home to Rep. Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee and driving force now behind plans to almost double the target price in support of the richer market."
Boehner has quietly said he will at last appoint House conferees to meet with the Senate to negotiate a final bill. UPDATE: Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., told Brownfield Ag News that Boehner assured her he would make the appointments within a week. House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas is going for a "Big Four" meeting with the top negotiators. The big issue is food stamps and the House's desire for much larger cuts in the program, but there are many agricultural issues, too.
The University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute has provided a 30-page analysis of the House and Senate bills including data significant to the debate. FAPRI's evaluation is mostly balanced: "Under both bills, the average estimated impacts on production and prices are generally small relative to normal annual variation caused by other factors."
The analysis says the House bill's raising of the target prices for rice, peanuts and barley, and allowing farmers to increase production up to a cap, will prompt farmers to plant more of the crops but lower prices, leaving farmers "more dependent on the government for a share of their returns."
The American Soybean Association says the analysis show potential for "global market distortions, which would increase U.S. farm program vulnerability to challenges under the World Trade Organization," Rogers reports. "Powerful business lobbies, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, are raising their own trade fears." (Read more)
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