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Bill Is First Key Component of a New Direction and Framework for U.S. Agriculture Policy
Washington, DC—American Farmland Trust endorsed the Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act of 2006, introduced today by U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) with 26 bi-partisan cosponsors. “This bill is a key component of a new direction and framework needed for U.S. agriculture policy that will help farmers and ranchers conserve natural resources, promote renewable energy and expand access to healthy foods,” said Ralph Grossi, president of American Farmland Trust.
“Nearly half the land in America is working land—farms and ranches. The use of this land to produce food, fiber and energy has an enormous impact on our natural environment. And yet each year, three out of four farmers who apply for conservation funding for their working lands are turned down,” said Grossi. “This bill corrects the shortcomings of the 2002 Farm Bill, which under-funded programs providing incentives to producers for enhanced conservation of natural resources and protection of water quality.”
“Change is coming to U.S. farm policy, and the Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act is a welcome piece of that change. However, it is only part of a larger, more comprehensive transformation of U.S. farm policy needed in the 2007 Farm Bill,” Grossi explained. Despite the “suspension” of the Doha Round trade negotiations, forces for change in the 2007 Farm Bill remain, including new World Trade Organization dispute cases like the Brazilian cotton case against the U.S., continued budget deficits that will make it a challenge to maintain funding levels, the increasingly poor perception of farm subsidies among taxpayers, and insufficient funds for conservation, nutrition, energy and rural development.
“What will the new farm and food policy look like? I see farmers, ranchers, conservationists and the public ready to endorse a new farm bill that is truly pro-farmer, pro-stewardship and creates new opportunities for American agriculture to serve local markets and remain competitive around the world,” said Grossi. To that end, with the input from over 400 farmers and ranchers through forums around the country, AFT developed Agenda 2007: A New Framework and Direction for U.S. Farm Policy. Grossi continued, “In addition to policies embodied in the Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act, we need policies to:
- Help farmers and ranchers better manage risk by transitioning existing subsidy programs to a revenue-based risk protection program;
- Compensate producers for environmental stewardship—producing clean water, expanding wildlife habitat and protecting their land for future generations;
- Simplify conservation programs to make it easier for producers to participate;
- Address the needs of farmers left out of subsidy programs including specialty crop producers and ranchers;
- Expand farm entrepreneurship, infrastructure investment and rural development; and
- Provide incentives for a new generation of farmers and for minority farmers also left out of the current programs.”
“We’re at a critical cross-roads in U.S. agriculture,” said Grossi, who still runs his family’s fifth-generation farm with his father in Marin County, C.A. “Many farmers are left out of current farm programs—producers of fruits and vegetables, nuts, minority farmers, ranchers and others. Also, our current programs are market distorting and cause problems in the international trade arena. I believe the road we want starts with the Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act and continues on to a comprehensive transformation of U.S. farm policy in 2007. Our environment and taxpayers—and American agriculture—deserve no less.”
Copies of AFT's Agenda 2007 and additional information on AFT’s top priority farm policy campaign can be found at www.farmland.org, or by contacting Jennifer Morrill at jmorrill@farmland.org or 202-378-1255.
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