GALVESTON — It started on a winter day in 2007 when a group of Cass County farmers met on the Wilson Brothers Farm to voice concerns to Rep. Joe Donnelly.

That conversation led to the inclusion of a pilot program in the 2008 Farm Bill that will allow farmers in seven states to plant fruits and vegetables without fear of penalty for violating the base crop allowances.

The U.S. House and Senate voted to override a veto by President George W. Bush last week making the legislation law for the next five years.

“We’re here to celebrate today in front of a tomato field,” said Steve Sullivan, of the Cass County Farm Bureau, Wednesday at Wilson Brothers Farms. “The farm flex program started right here.”

Sullivan said prior to passage of the bill, farmers were raising specialty crops like tomatoes, would lose their base classification for the acreage.

Base crops are considered corn, wheat and soybeans.

“That interfered with crop rotation, in the leasing of land, buying and selling of land and the right to choose what crops to plant,” Sullivan said. “Joe [Donnelly] got the ball rolling.”

The pilot program allows up to 9,000 acres of specialty crops be planted in Indiana without risk to the farmers of losing their base crop classification.

“I want to thank the agricultural community for their input,” Donnelly said. “This is their farm bill. When I got elected, I knew farmers and the agricultural community knew better than I did what was best for Indiana and the nation.”

Donnelly said the farm flex provision was an important part of the farm bill and will allow Red Gold, the tomato processing plant in Elwood, to grow and create more jobs in the future.

“This gives the farmers a choice of what to grow,” he said. “Farmers are good stewards of the land and this allows them to rotate the crops.

“This was not my idea alone,” he said. “It was developed by the farmers and the ag community in the 2nd District. This is important to Indiana agriculture.”

Donnelly said he hopes the pilot program is successful and becomes permanent in the future.

“This is a victory for common sense,” he said. “I understand that our farmers know best how to write a farm bill.”

Donnelly said California and West Coast farmers are concerned that growing fruits and vegetables in the Midwest will effect prices and their farm operations.

“I never believed a couple of thousand acres in Indiana was going to impact West Coast farms,” he said. “This is providing freedom of opportunity for Indiana farmers and will have zero effect on the West Coast farmers.”

Kevin Wilson said the bill provides the family more flexibility in determining what crops to plant.

“We won’t get a payment, but we don’t get penalized,” he said. “It used to be if you stepped out of the base, you were penalized.”

Wilson explained the family paid a $17,000 penalty for planting 8 acres of tomatoes in the past.

“That didn’t seem right to us,” he said. “This is a chance to raise what we feel is the most profitable. We have been trying to get this changed for six years.”

The farm bill doesn’t add any money to the national debt, according to Donnelly.

Kurt Mullard made the trip to Galveston from Elkhart to hear what Donnelly had to say Wednesday about the override of the presidential veto.

Mullard said he lost his base classification several years ago when he planted 400 acres of sweet corn.

“We can’t raise the amount of vegetables needed in this country,” he said. “It was crazy to be penalized. This is important for farmers and the local community.”