Grainnet

NAMA Members Testify Before Congress Subcommittee on the Need for Farm Bill Reform

Washington, DC--The North American Millers' Association (NAMA) called on Congress this week to reform farm programs to reduce government-caused distortions of production decisions, reduce the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) by allowing sustainable acres back into production, and to invest in research to give growers better crop options.

Wheat plantings have plummeted by 18 million acres in just the last 10 years, and the United States now harvests fewer wheat acres than it did in 1898.

Oat production in 2006 was a mere 107 million bushels, the lowest since USDA began keeping records in 1866.

Rick L. Schwein, NAMA chairman and senior vice president of Grain Millers, Inc., testified on behalf on NAMA in a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

Schwein said, "Wheat and oat millers are willing to compete with processors of competing crops to encourage farmers to plant more of the cereal grains we need, but we cannot compete with the government-funded programs that have created massive distortions in planting decisions."

"It's ironic that the U.S. government, through the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, encourages consumers to eat more grains, all the while, government farm programs discourage growers from producing those grains," Schwein said.

"Meanwhile, production of dry peas and lentils has exploded in response to government subsidies, even though there is almost no U.S. market for them."

On Wednesday, Lynn Rundle, a member of NAMA's Board of Directors and CEO of 21st Century Grain Processing, presented a similar testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

"Biofuels production will require enormous acreage, so failure to significantly reform the CRP will mean that reducing our dependence on foreign oil may result in increased dependence on foreign grain," Rundle said.