National Farmers Union

ABERDEEN, S.D. (August 19, 2006) – Farmers and ranchers in Wisconsin and South Dakota expressed concerns about the drafting of the 2007 Farm Bill Saturday, as part of National Farmers Union’s Farm Bill Listening Sessions.

The forums are part of a nationwide effort to gather opinions and concerns from farmers, ranchers and rural residents about the impact of federal polices on their communities, including but not limited to the current farm bill. NFU is holding more than 15 nationwide sessions and will bring the information gathered directly to policy-makers in Washington, D.C. in early September as part of their annual fall fly-in. NFU says that it is essential that Congress acts deliberately in drafting the next farm bill, having gathered the input of food and fiber producers throughout the nation.

“In Wisconsin, producers were particularly concerned about cuts to the farm safety net when Congress rewrites the 2002 Farm Bill,” NFU Vice President of Government Relations Bart Chilton said. “They were specifically concerned about dairy policy, conservation and disaster assistance, but worried about the wide-sweeping implications of drafting the farm bill in the current political and economic climate.”

Wisconsin producers generally expressed a preference toward extending the 2002 Farm Bill, but underscored the need for a permanent disaster relief program that protects against quality losses. Permanent disaster relief would assist producers during times of natural disasters without having to rely upon yearly ad-hoc assistance or the political climate in Washington, D.C.

“In South Dakota, fuels from the farm, disaster assistance and the conservation reserve program were among family farmers and ranchers’ top concerns,” NFU Vice President Alan Bergman said.

Attendees at the South Dakota forum also underscored the need to continue the promotion of renewable fuels. They said that while they are pleased by advances in the production of ethanol, they would like to see measures to encourage competition and local ownership of ethanol plants.

NFU is holding the listening sessions because it believes that the answers to questions of farm policy lie with those who live and work in rural America. The next of the listening sessions will occur this week in Colorado, California and Utah.

Click here for a full listing of scheduled farm bill listening sessions.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 11:15 am and is filed under Agriculture Programs, Rural America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.