|
Agriculture
2008 Farm Bill
Helping farmers secure better prices for their products and ensuring that farms across the 23rd Congressional District remain viable is one of my highest priorities. In May 2008, Congress passed into law a new farm bill that I supported because of the benefits the bill will bring to farmers and other in the 23rd District. For those looking for more information on the 2008 Farm, please visit the following resources, prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service:
To view my comments in the Congressional Record on the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill in the House of Representatives on May 14, 2008, click here (left hand column).
Other Agriculture Work
As one of the original architects of the Northeast Dairy Compact, I have long been committed to making the Compact permanent and expanding it to include New York. During the 107th Congress, I was once again at the forefront of concerted efforts to move legislation accomplishing this goal through the Congress. These constitutionally-protected, voluntary arrangements among states have a demonstrated record of success in addressing the milk pricing problems that exist nationwide. Compacts let the sun shine on this complex process of milk pricing by letting farmers and consumers have a seat at the milk-pricing table for the first time.
While the Compact was not reauthorized, we were able to convince our colleagues from other areas of the country that our dairy farmers needed assistance in some form. The MILC program that was enacted as part of the 2002 Farm bill provides a monthly payment to farmers milking under a certain threshold level.
In the meantime, my colleagues and I continued working to make the program better and to devise a more market-oriented program to assist our farmers. During the 108th Congress, we introduced regional over-order pricing legislation known as the National Dairy Equity Act (NDEA). In development for more than a year, the NDEA is a comprehensive national plan that establishes a minimum price for fluid milk and creates a market-based safety net for dairy farmers during times of low milk prices. It establishes Regional Dairy Marketing Areas (RDMA) in the Northeast, Southern, Midwest, Intermountain, and Pacific regions. In each of the five RDMAs, a Regional Dairy Board would be responsible for setting the minimum price for Class I (fluid) milk sold in that region, which farmers in the region would then approve. Should the Class I price fall below the established minimum price, each region would receive market-based differential payments from a newly established national fund based on a set formula. In the event that the fund was to have a shortfall, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture could supplement the payments with federal dollars to ensure that the Regional Boards, and subsequently the dairy farmers themselves, would receive the full payments.
The NDEA overcomes inter-regional objections to previous, similar plans because it creates regional equity and does not require the sharing or pooling of payout money between the regions.
While we continued working to move toward a more market-oriented system, efforts to extend and expand the MILC program continued. In the 109th Congress, several of my colleagues and I introduced legislation to extend this safety net to the end of the current Farm bill in September 2007. To enhance the program’s value to our farmers in the Northeast, the plan increases the trigger price from $16.94 to $17.10; doubles the annual production cap of 2.4 million pounds (130 cow herd) to 4.8 million pounds (250 cow herd); removes restrictive language regarding payments to multi-family farms that now limits these operations to a single 2.4 million pound annual production cap even if more than one family is making a living on the dairy farm. Experts estimate that, for New York farmers, doubling the cap would mean that the percentage of milk covered by payments increases from 72% currently to 84%.
Subsequently, I was pleased that the House and Senate finally approved legislation in February 2006 that reauthorized the MILC program, and provide our farmers with a safety net for two additional years until September 2007.
I have voted to extend crop insurance protections to specialty crop farmers, such as apple and onion growers. This ensures farmers will have a better safety net in place to make it through the tough times that occur because of falling prices or extreme weather. I have also helped to secure market loss assistance payments for a wide variety of agricultural producers as an investment to help keep our farmers in business.
Another issue of concern is the importation of milk protein concentrates (MPC). When they are added to dairy products, local production is displaced and both farmers and consumers suffer. I remain committed to ensuring that our trade laws governing these imports are corrected and that Americans purchasing what they believe to be "real" dairy products are not misled.
I am a strong advocate for value-added incentives that would help farmers and producer groups earn more by reaching up the agricultural marketing chain to capture more of the profits their product generates. One of my initiatives, the Value-Added Producer grant program that is aimed at jump-starting agricultural enterprises by assisting cash-strapped producers in reaping more of the profits themselves, was also approved as part of the 2002 Farm Bill. I continue to be a strong supporter of a companion proposal to that initiative to provide tax breaks to producers who avail themselves of value-added enterprises.
Our farmers must become price-makers, rather than price-takers. I will continue to work to make this a reality as the 110th Congress works to reauthorize the Farm Bill this year. Dairy, specialty crops, conservation and renewable energy are among my top priorities.
For additional information on the 2002 Farm Bill, please visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web site.
|
