Rice Commodity Session at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Conference

I had the pleasure of attending the annual Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Convention in New Orleans, La the weekend before July 4th.  During the rice commodity session, a number of speakers provided some very interesting comments.  To begin we heard from Watts & Associates, a consulting firm that that USA rice federation hired to explore new crop insurance plan for rice.  Mr. Alex Offerdahl (aofferdahl@wattsandassociates.com) presented a summary of the current crop insurance situation , with a preview of some ideas they have for proposing a new structure.  If you want to learn more about this, I recommend you contact Randy Jamison (USA Rice Federation). Mr. Offerdahl did a great job presenting on a highly technical subject.

Next Tara Smith – director of Congressional Relations for American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in Washington, D.C. gave us an update on activities on the Hill.  Her comments primarily focused on “growing our future – the 2012 farm bill”.  Yes, they are already debating the next version of the farm bill. 

The House Agricultural Committee, chaired by Congressman Peterson, has already conducted 10 field meetings and 3 D.C. hearings on the 2012 farm bill.  Additional hearings may be conducted in the future.  They plan to have a first draft of the 2012 farm bill  for mark-ups by May to June 2011.  In the Senate Agricultural Committee – chaired by Senator Blanche Lincoln, the first hearings on the farm bill were held on June 30, 2010.  You may have read about these hearings in the news.  Secretary Vilsack, AFBF President Bob Stallman, and others were scheduled to testify to the committee.  Four more hearings are planned for this year. 

Tara described many constraints on the 2012 farm bill.  The budget for the farm bill is currently facing a triple threat:

1. Standard Reinsurance Agreements – total of $6 billion
2. Child nutrition, which could be increased to $10 billion
3. Budget reconciliation from the 2011 to 2012 budgets could be required of all committees.  This would demand that each committee cut a portion of their budget to balance the budget and reduce the deficit.

There are also a growing number of interests to appease – nutrition and specialty crops are now in the mix for farm bill funds. According to Tara, despite the heavy tilt towards nutrition spending, there is little chance of farm interests laying claim to any of that money in the current political environment.  The goal of AFBF is to ensure that no additional farm or conservation program dollars are lost. 

The Farm Bureau has 5 principles as the 2012 farm bill is written:

1. The options AFBFputs forward or supports will be fiscally responsible
2. The basic funding structure of the 2008 farm bill should not be altered
   • 79% nutrition ( this has increased from 66% in previous bill)
   • 1% export
   • 6% conservation
   • 7% crop insurance
   • 7% farm programs
3. The proposals AFBF puts forward will aim to benefit all ag sectors
4. World trade rulings will be considered
5. Consideration will be given to the stable business environment critical to success in Agriculture (slow change is better)

Tara then went on to discuss how farmers have received the 2008 farm bill.  She said it is a little like “Goldilocks and the three bears”.  Is this farm bill too much, too little or just right?  It depends on where you live and what you grow. 

If you’d like to learn more, you can contact Tara at 202.406.3675 or taras@fb.org

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