News Update

News Update
May 22, 2008

House Overrides Farm Bill Veto

National Farmers Union President Tom Buis commended the U.S. House of Representatives today for voting to override the President’s veto of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. The Senate is anticipated to follow suit tomorrow. NFU released a statement by Buis to the media Thursday, saying:

“This has been a long process and it is time to put into place the many programs that will benefit millions of Americans.

“Overall this is a good bill that improves upon current law by making much needed improvements in conservation, nutrition, anti-hunger, farm, ranch, rural development, fruits and vegetables, livestock and other vital programs.

“I commend the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Chairmen Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte and Reps. Rangel, Pomeroy and DeLauro; and all the members who supported the Farm Bill. Comprehensive legislation such as this is always difficult, but it would not have happened without the hard work, dedication and leadership of these members working together in a bipartisan manner.

“The 2008 Farm Bill reduces overall spending and takes steps to reform commodity program participation. …

“Using today’s commodity prices as justification to oppose the bill does not utilize lessons learned that gravity works, and what goes up will come down. Any Farm Bill works in periods of good times; Congress is responsible to write a Farm Bill for the difficult times. Ironically, the administration’s Farm Bill policy proposal would have actually increased subsidies to farmers in high price years.

“Finally, the President referenced high food prices in his justification for vetoing the bill. He should know, as the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) has said, that farmers receive less than 20¢ of every retail food dollar. If you want to know the real culprit of higher food prices, look at the skyrocketing costs of energy. In addition, this Farm Bill makes a huge new commitment to nutrition and anti-hunger programs, more than ever before, to help those with limited incomes to address higher food prices.

“America’s farmers and ranchers have been providing an abundance of safe, affordable food and fiber since the birth of this great nation. I think Congress did a good job under very difficult conditions to address many of the challenges we face in America.”

— release provided by Nationals Farmers Union

Senate Overrides Presidential Veto, Clerical Error Discovered

Earlier today, the Senate voted 82-13 to override the President’s veto on the 2007 Farm Bill. However, due to a clerical error, Title III of the 2007 Farm Bill was left out of the versions that was signed by Speaker Pelosi and then vetoed by President Bush. This is the same version that was voted upon yesterday on the House floor.

“The inadvertent clerical error, discovered yesterday after the president’s veto, leaves one of the 15 titles incomplete,” NFU’s Buis said. “The House of Representatives has re-passed the conference report today and the Senate will follow suit after the Memorial Day recess. While this error was unfortunate, Congress continues to demonstrate its wide, bipartisan support for this legislation.”

According to Buis, 14 of the 15 titles are now law. The clerical error omitted a noncontroversial trade title providimg funding for international food aid.

Texas Ag Forum to debate Food/Feed vs. Fuel

Seeking a balanced analysis of the food and feed vs. fuel debate, the 2008 Texas Ag Forum will feature a comprehensive look at the issues affecting production agriculture and the food and fiber system across the nation.

The forum will take place June 9 at the Austin Omni Southpark Hotel in Austin.

“Rising fuel and food prices have many blaming grain-based ethanol for creating more problems than it solves,” said Joe Outlaw, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University. “This issue is much more complicated than that. What we really need is a balanced evaluation of the issues.”

Outlaw and a group of Texas commodity group and farm organization leaders have planned the forum “to provide objective analysis of the food and feed versus fuel debate.”

The forum will feature presentations from university experts, farm groups and biofuels representatives.

“The conference will highlight the results of recent analysis conducted at major U.S. research universities,” Outlaw said. “Anyone who is interested in production agriculture or the food and fiber system would find this meeting valuable.

“The livestock industry particularly has borne the costs of higher corn prices,” he said. “In the afternoon, we are going to have stakeholder presentations from the ethanol, feed grain and livestock industries.”

Advanced registration is $100 and covers attendance, breakfast and lunch. To register or for more information, call 979-845-5913. Same-day registration is $125.

A limited block of rooms at the Omni will be held until May 28 at a rate of $119 plus tax. Additional rooms are available at market rates. Reservations can be made by calling 512-448-2222 or 1-800-THE-OMNI.

Ask for the room block for the “Texas Ag Forum 2008.” Additional information is available from the Texas Ag Forum web site at http://agforum.tamu.edu.

— release provided by Texas AgriLife Extension Service

American Agri-Women Symposium announced

Members of the media and all interested parties are invited to attend the 16th Annual Agricultural Issues Symposium Monday, June 9, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“Who’s Feeding the Hysteria? Finding the sensible in sensationalized issues” is the title of the 2008 American Agri-Women (AAW) Agricultural Issues Symposium, a timely subject in the face of high energy costs and also in how the public perceives the use of biotechnology. What is the truth and how does agriculture get its message to the public? How can we help the public understand how the use of biofuels affects the price of a gallon of fuel? How can agriculture communicate how biotechnology is increasing food production and the nutritional value of foods? These and other issues will be discussed.

Speakers will be announced within the week.

The Symposium will be in Room 107-A of the Jamie Whitten Administration Building at 12th and Independence Avenue from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The public is welcome.

Leaders of AAW from throughout the country will meet in Washington, D.C., the week of June 9 for the organization’s annual D.C. Agricultural Issues Symposium and Fly-in. During the week, the group will meet with officials at USDA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and with members of Congress.

AAW is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women, with 50 state, commodity and agribusiness affiliate organizations working to provide true information about agriculture to the public since 1974.

For more information contact Marcie Williams, president, at president@americanagriwomen.org, or visit the web site at www.americanagriwomen.org.

— compiled by Tosha Powell, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.