Iowa hearing is first in long process to craft farm bill that influences much of what US eats

Iowa hearing begins marathon farm bill process

DES MOINES, Iowa — A hearing on the new federal farm bill Friday in Des Moines began the arduous process of writing a mammoth bill that covers everything from farm credit to food stamps.

The current $284 billion bill, approved in 2008, expires in September 2012, and members of the House Agriculture Committee hope to avoid disagreements that delayed passage last time.

Hearings are scheduled to continue through May 18 in Nampa, Idaho; Fresno, Calif.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Morrow, Ga.; Troy, Ala.; Lubbock, Texas; and Sioux Falls, S.D.

“During these field hearings, I want to hear from farmers and ranchers, not only about what has worked well in the past, but also whether the current farm programs offer the best safety net possible for producers,” said committee chairman Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

Peterson told the roughly 100 people at the hearing that it would be a long, difficult process to craft a bill that takes on so many issues.

Frank D. Lucas, R-Okla., the committee’s ranking minority member, said his goal is to provide the tools farmers need “to do what you do best” — that is, produce the world’s “safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply.”

“I think it’s extremely important to hear from you about what is working, what is not working and what changes we can make,” he said.

Lucas said he also hopes to help producers avoid what he sees as negative effects of environmental regulations that hinder their ability to market crops.

About 75 percent of the bill’s funding goes toward food nutrition programs, such as food stamps, but it also supports commodity crops, horticulture, livestock, conservation, trade, agricultural research, farm credit, rural development, energy and forestry.

Some of that support comes in the form of controversial direct payments to farmers, although the 2008 bill was changed to prohibit all subsidies to anyone whose non-farm adjusted gross income exceeds $500,000. The current measure also banned most direct payments to anyone with more than $750,000 in adjusted gross income from farming.

Dairy farmer Dane Lang sat on a panel at Friday’s hearing and addressed two proposals he would like to see in the 2012 farm bill: increased subsidies for dairy producers and stricter quality controls for milk.

“That doesn’t cost any money to change quality standards,” said Lang, who farms near the eastern Iowa town of Brooklyn.

Lang said quality improvements would automatically disqualify some cows from dairy production. He said that would help farmers decrease supplies and drive up prices, which have only begun to rebound from near record lows last year.

Lang said increasing subsidies from $9 to $10 per hundred pounds of milk to $15 or $16 would help producers offset rising production costs.

“Current (government) payments are not going to keep anyone in business, they can be helpful, but they’re not very helpful,” Lang told The Associated Press before the hearing. “Being able to produce milk for $9 to $10 — those days are over.”

Richard Bayliss, a corn and soybean producer near Ottumwa, Iowa, asked that the 2012 farm bill look forward.

“Look 10 or more years into the future with respect to input cots, markets, technology, global perspective and our children’s children,” Bayliss said. “The program should fit the future, not what we are doing this week or next.”

Peterson said he wants to seek ways to improve use of existing funds rather than seek new sources of funding.

“If there are ways that we can use the money we have to create a better farm safety net, I want to look at those options,” Peterson said.