Thread: CA:Valley farms reaping dollars; some $1 mil each

Valley farms reaping dollars
Subsidies in Senate bill may yield some growers $1 million each.
By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau
11/01/07 21:22:23


WASHINGTON -- Thirty Central Valley farms stand to collect more than $1 million each in subsidies under a farm bill set for Senate debate next week, federal records show.

Based around rural towns such as Corcoran, Colusa and Los Banos, the rice and cotton farms are among the potential big winners in the Senate bill. Would-be reformers aghast at the payments and hoping to cut the subsidies concede they will probably only end up nipping at the margins.

"I don't claim to have the votes for my bill," Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., author of a key reform amendment, said Thursday, "but I think before we're finished, we'll see some tempering of these policies."

Ongoing negotiations already have boosted spending for food stamps and nutrition programs.

The Senate floor debate could last several days, potentially enlivened by amendments on everything from ending sugar subsidies to legalizing immigrant farmworkers.

Overall, though, the Senate farm bill that spans some 1,300 pages now appears impervious to significant change.

"There is a great deal of inertia," Lugar said.

He knows the feeling well. The last time the veteran Indiana senator tried a wholesale farm subsidy reform, in 2002, he fell short by an 85-11 margin.

This year's $288 billion farm bill approved unanimously by the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee keeps largely intact the current system of crop subsidies dominated by cotton, rice, wheat and corn growers.

The subsidy system includes so-called "direct payments," which flow regardless of market conditions.

The Environmental Working Group, which opposes the current farm subsidy system, calculated the new Senate farm bill would provide $26 billion in direct payments over the next five years.

In California, some 15,000 farmers are expected to collect $871 million in direct payments through the year 2012. Farmers in top-ranked Colusa County would receive $117 million, and farmers in second-ranked Fresno County would receive $91 million, according to the estimates posted online at www.ewg.org.

"Even if prices go through the roof, they'll still get that money," Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

The Senate farm bill devotes a record $2 billion to specialty crops, which are not included in the direct payment program. About half of this pays for buying fruits and vegetables to serve elementary school children.

The specialty crop provisions are largely uncontroversial, though some lawmakers want more.

The farm bill itself appears a foregone conclusion, although the House and Senate still must work out their myriad differences.

The Senate, for instance, imposes a new ban on subsidies to growers with gross annual incomes exceeding $750,000. The House sets the bar at $1 million.

Senators are also adjusting their farm bill on the fly, with Lugar taking some of the credit.

Last week, for instance, Lugar was crushed by a 17-4 margin when he tried diverting more crop money into food stamps. But this week, committee leaders declared they had discovered an additional $1 billion in savings they could now devote to food stamps and nutrition.

"We're working in a practical, pragmatic way" to make concrete improvements, Lugar insisted.

Other senators are likewise calculating their amendment strategies.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, for instance, said she is still trying to figure out whether she has the 60 Senate votes needed to tack an agricultural guest-worker plan onto the farm bill.

"It is still an uphill battle. Some don't want Agjobs on this bill; some don't want it at all," Feinstein said. "As we get closer, we'll evaluate whether we think the votes are there and make a final decision."
The reporter can be reached at mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006.

http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/180684.html

The Senate floor debate could last several days, potentially enlivened by amendments on everything from ending sugar subsidies to legalizing immigrant farmworkers.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, for instance, said she is still trying to figure out whether she has the 60 Senate votes needed to tack an agricultural guest-worker plan onto the farm bill.

"It is still an uphill battle. Some don't want Agjobs on this bill; some don't want it at all," Feinstein said. "As we get closer, we'll evaluate whether we think the votes are there and make a final decision."

Time to rally the troops, ALIPAC'ers. Ag Jobs will be a hot topic in just a few days on the Senate floor. The dam breaks on November 5 when the FARM Bill gets introduced. Harry Reid and Diane Feinstein will be looking for the perfect opportunity to spring the Ag Jobs amendment, probably late in the day on Wednesday-Thursday (but no guarantee that it won't come earlier). That just give us a few days to get the word out and to contact Senators.

Please...the time is now to act! See the Ag Jobs thread at: http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-88376.html

Yes, please call today and leave messages against the AgJOBS amnesty proposal over the weekend if you can.

Remember, the AgJOBS amnesty proposal would be even larger than the Dream Act amnesty proposal, and I also believe larger in numbers than the 1986 amnesty.

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Call the Senate: NO AgJOBS Amnesty !