Grainnet

by Frank Zaworski, grainnet

The Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, was ushered to the floor of the United States Senate Nov. 5 by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. The Senate’s version of the 2007 farm bill was passed out of committee on Oct. 25.

In his opening floor speech, Harkin outlined the bill’s key provisions including counter-cyclical income protection for farmers, promotion of specialty crops, broader nutrition programs, support for cellulosic ethanol development and production, and more.

“This legislation will help our nation’s specialty crop growers to address the diverse array of challenges they face in today’s increasingly complex and competitive global marketplace,” Harkin said.

For the first time, the farm bill contains up to $1.8 billion in funds to support specialty crop producers.

“The programs within this bill will help America’s specialty crop producers gain access to overseas markets where they can promote and sell their products,” Harkin said.

“It will also strengthen our national prevention and surveillance system for invasive pests and diseases, which will help protect the stability and health of fruits and vegetables in this country. We increase research on specialty crops to prevent the spread of plant-based viruses.” Renewable Energy

The energy title of the farm bill is aimed at helping expand the renewable fuels industry.

Some $3 billion has been earmarked in the bill for cellulosic ethanol research and development.

Included in the energy title is a provision proposed by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota that calls for the expenditure of $200 million in federal cost sharing dollars to establish energy-dedicated crops and pay competitive rent until those crops are sold.

The measure would also provide per-ton payments to producers of biomass such as corn cobs, perennial grasses and wood chips.

“It is going to dramatically geographically diversify ethanol production around the country,” Thune said.

Going Organic

The Senate bill also makes it easier for producers to get into organic production.

The bill includes $80 million over five years for research into organic production and marketing.

The Senate included $5 million for price, yield and overall data collection.

The bill also removes the five percent surcharge arbitrarily charged to organic producers that want to reduce their risk by getting crop insurance.

Opposition

Former Senate Ag Committee Chair Sen. Richard Lugar is expected to lead Republican opposition to the farm bill that passed out of the committee by a margin of 17-4.

“The committee could do much better on behalf of not just farmers, butt all taxpayers,” Lugar said.

The Senate version of the farm bill is supported by at least 15 national farmer and commodity groups who sent a letter to the Senate Ag Committee urging prompt action on the farm bill noting that the current bill has already expired.

The letter was signed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Sugar Alliance, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council, and others.

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