NCGA Calls Latest Farm Bill A Major Move Forward (5-2-08)

The National Corn Growers Association is pleased the latest version of the farm bill, as agreed to early Friday, includes an optional market-based revenue countercyclical program. Lawmakers appear to have reached a tentative agreement on most major provisions of the bill. The House and Senate approved a two-week extension of the bill to allow the conference to complete its work on the agreement’s details.

“NCGA has been working on the inclusion of a revenue countercyclical program in the farm bill for three years and is happy to see it reflected in the latest version of the bill,” said NCGA President Ron Litterer. “We thank Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and all the members for their hard work and perseverance.”

NCGA also thanks the conference committee for including the Average Crop Revenue Election program modeled after legislation introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) last year. For the first time, producers will have the option to participate in a state-level crop revenue protection program to better manage their risk.

Also of note is the Rural Development Title which includes $15 million for a Value-added Producer Grant Program. The program encourages independent producers of agricultural commodities to process their raw products into marketable goods.

Additionally, the Energy Title increases incentives to speed up commercialization of advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. The bill benefits farmers who produce biomass crops by providing grants and loan guarantees to support new biorefineries.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee continue to work on a number of tax provisions to provide funding for the bill. The committees have deliberated provisions affecting the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and the secondary tariff on imported ethanol. Final agreements are to be resolved next week.

The new Conservation Title also assists producers by including the Conservation Steward Program which provides incentives for improving and maintaining sound conservation practices on land in agriculture production.

Peterson and Harkin are expected to call for the House and Senate conferees to continue discussions on the remaining issues that must be resolved to advance a final farm bill agreement. The Congressional Budget Office still has to score the latest farm bill package before it goes to the president’s desk.